Brunch
AOML’s first private Armagnac release. The gift is for the giver.
“Am I being a little bitch?”
My dear friend was intimating he had done so much for a loved one, above and beyond kind of stuff, over a long period of time. And yet the loved one never responded with the kind of gratitude one would expect. This was understandably disappointing, even a little painful for my friend. The question he posed was sincere.
Nonetheless:
“Yeah, you’re being a little bitch.”
We are a social species, programmed for reciprocity. We give and give and give and expect, at a minimum, a thank you, a nod, a pat on the back. But IMO, don’t expect anything in return, be satisfied we did the right thing and move on. The gift is for the giver.
Band of Brothers
Our little group started organically. A handful of guys were together one morning among the California redwoods, inside a humble cabin, fire in the old stone hearth. The morning light of late fall streaming through the woodmuntined window, shimmering dust particles in quiet suspension.
Someone had the bright idea to open a bottle of Scotch.
It’s 10 a.m., does that matter?
No sir.
Hey, we got smokes, anyone want one?
Heck yeah.
And like that we settled in with our bounty. Conversation drifted like cigar smoke to all corners of life.
With our noses constantly in our screens, running from meeting to soul-crushing meeting, who knew just sitting and chatting with good people could be so rewarding? We did at one point - cavemen around a fire - but we got distracted by TikTok and forgot.
And so our little group got together a second time to see if we could replicate the mirth.
We could.
Because we huddled mid-morning and it involved some form of nourishment – be it from the spirits, cigars or the company – we started referring to our little gathering as Brunch.
This type of forum for genuine conversation and connection - where a guy can be a little vulnerable, float a heartfelt question and get honest feedback - seems rare. To add on top of it savoring brandy and a cigar, laughing so much your cheeks hurt, well, damn, that’s special.
Our merry Band of Brothers grew over time to a good dozen regulars, and guests too. Each time the magic happens, good conversation, laughter, tough love, appreciation. All it requires is getting together, in person, same time, same place.
A little Armagnac doesn’t hurt either.
Beast from the East
If you’ve ever seen the Beast Masters Club website, it’s a wonder to behold, like an e-commerce site and the Sunday funnies got together and had a baby.
You’ll find multitudes of high-end co-branded private bottlings: Whisky, bourbon, rum. Armagnac too: L’Encantada, Leberon, Charron. Among the myriad bottles, cartoon critters abound. Beavers and Buffalo. Pigs and ducks. Anthropomorphic pickles.
A little unusual, but it works.
Behind Beast Masters is the cuddly connoisseur of brown liquors, New York City’s own Steven Zeller, who is fascinatingly fun, free-spirited, and effortlessly capable.
Steve’s Armagnac picks have proven to be excellent. I was blown away by the 2025 release titled Beastly Destiny. Dark flavors balanced with luscious fruit and dusty old Bordeaux on the palate, some welcome funk on the finish. Punchy ABV, a real gem. A beast indeed. I bought some, tried it, then promptly bought more.
Beyond the liquid gold inside the bottle, the outside was exquisite. It bore the name OADE, and there was clearly a lot of love put into the presentation. Slender bottle, bright blue die cut label, embossed foil print, hand dipped wax seal. Where Beast Masters is unfettered and insouciant, OADE is exacting and precise. They were strange bedfellows, Oscar and Felix, but yet again, it worked.
I congratulated Steve on Beastly Destiny, and without thinking much, asked for an intro to the bottler.
Enter the OADE
OADE, pronounced “ode,” is the label of Dan and Robyn Hakker, spirit aficionados with many years of private whiskey bottlings under their belt. One day on a lark, they ordered Beast Master’s offering of 1988 Château de Léberon. Dark, rich, concentrated, complex. Figs, leather, caramel, blackberries, black licorice.
Dan was blown away. “It completely changed what I thought I knew about aged spirits. That first bottle opened up an entirely new obsession for me, and knowing this stuff still existed in cellars across Gascony made me want to drink it all.”
Dan and Robyn then did what most Armagnac fans only dream of: they packed for France, knocked unannounced on farmhouse doors and crawled around cobwebbed family cellars, hunting for more of that liquid gold. 5 years and 100 cellars later, they liberated many-a-forgotten Armagnac barrel and bottled it under their elegant label.
Following Steve’s gracious intro, Dan was beyond cordial, and enthusiastic about the idea of a co-branded bottling with Armagnac, Obsession & the Meaning of Life. He offered to send me samples, or if I was up for it, to journey to his home and taste as many straight-from-the-barrel Armagnac samples as my heart desired. There wasn’t really a choice.
Orlando. Orlando?
If there was a heat map illustrating all the Armagnac in the world, you’d of course see a large, luminous red patch in southwest France. Some red flecks further out in the countryside, and surely some concentration in Paris. A little orange blot in London, Berlin, Hong Kong. A dull yellow mist in New York, San Francisco. But one anomalous bright red dot would catch your eye, a burning beacon, in Central Florida.
That’s Dan’s house.
The Hakker abode is decked out in spirit bottles, meticulously organized and presented on trimmed-out wood shelves and behind cabinet doors, their own curated bottlings. On one particular built-in marbletop is a tiered display holding some 125 bottles, all hand labeled, all barrel samples Dan and Robyn personally drew from casks in Armagnac, then spirited back to the Sunshine State.
This counter is where Dan presides, my Armagnac preferences in mind, judiciously selecting just the right bottles for a tasting.
Is this heaven?
No, it’s Orlando.
In all I tasted 25 barrel samples, noting and rating each one. I managed to narrow the field to 5 stellar barrels, and ultimately chose the one with sublime cherry sweetness, power and refinement: 1990 Maison Aurian, Barrel #74.
Name, Image, Likeness
Last thing to do was to name the bottle. Knowing I would crack it open with my homies on some fall morning among the redwoods, cigar in hand, cheeks sore from laughing…well, there wasn’t really a choice.
OADE 1990 Maison Aurian
“Brunch”
Barrel #74
Aged in Oak Casks for 35 Years
52.4% ABV
The color is a lively chestnut with red swells and gold highlights. The nose opens with Luxardo cherry, dark brown sugar, spiced apple cobbler, crème brûlée, and dry oak aromas. Upon tasting, one first notices the velvety soft mouthfeel, perhaps it’s most unique and admirable trait. The flavors on the palate include dark cherry and caramel. Some heat on the finish along cherry, dark chocolate, fall spices, oak, graphite, lemon zest. There’s a graceful sweetness that pervades the whole affair, elegance all the way through.
Score: 95
96 Bottles available, $245, while it lasts. Order Brunch here. Check out Beast Masters Club and OADE.
My thanks to you all for allowing me to give this gift.