ST AGNES XOs

Written By Angus Hughson

Words by Tony Love

Patience is a virtue.

The well-versed proverb has been in the language for centuries and remains especially relevant today in the barrel halls of the Angove family’s St Agnes distillery, a major heritage setting in its own right in the South Australian Riverland town of Renmark.

Let’s just take the last of those centuries and bring it to life. To celebrate 100 years of distilling history, the Angoves have released a magnificently aged spirit, the St Agnes XXO Exceptional Reserve,  a magnificent brandy, if we can call it that on the international stage, sitting at the pinnacle of its long-revered St Agnes portfolio that has dominated the Australian genre of VS, VSOP and XO spirits for many decades.

The story of this centenary celebration began back in 1910, when Dr William Angove built a distillery in Renmark in 1910 to make a simple spirit to fortify wines. His son Carl decided to go one step further in 1925 and create a new style of Australian brandy able to stand alone as a lighter and more delicate spirit. To be sipped and savoured as the best of the Old World’s brandies had always been. One for the ages.

It's this moment in history that has now been marked by the Angoves, who into their fifth generation have kept the passion alive with the St Agnes XXO Exceptional Reserve, considered to be the oldest Australian-aged spirit ever released.

The original spirit in the XXO is thought to have been created in 1953, while most of the parcels included in the multi-vintage blend were distilled between 1970 and 1972. And yes, it’s a grape origin spirit, in the true manner of all brandy, starting with varieties including Doradillo, Pedro Ximenez, Palomino and Sultana, all of which thrive in the warm climate, Riverland region.  

With all the yearly distilling records in place, the XXO Exceptional Reserve is released as a minimum 50 Year Old; just 500 bottles at $4800 each. It’s a benchmark opportunity for collectors and connoisseurs to own a piece of Australian distilling history.

Australian spirit expert, historian and author, Luke McCarthy, called the XXO one of the greatest achievements in Australian winemaking and distilling.

“It’s hard not to get carried away when tasting an aged spirit with this level of depth and heritage,” McCarthy writes in his history St Agnes - The First 100 Years.  “(It’s) the kind of spirit that gives you goosebumps and makes the hairs on your neck stand up.”

To enhance the celebration party, the Angoves also have released a St Agnes XO 30 Year Old Centenary Reserve, completing a suite of five fine XO spirits that range from their multi-award winning St Agnes XO 15 Year Old, the XO Imperial 20 Year Old, and the XO Grand Reserve 40 Year Old that was blended and released to mark St Agnes’s 90th birthday.

The St Agnes portfolio already has been recognised for many years by industry judges, garnering trophies at every major capital city wine show, while in 2024 its award cabinet collected further accolades as Champion Australian Distiller at the Melbourne Royal Australian Distilled Spirits Awards and won Best Distilled Spirit at the Royal Sydney, Royal Adelaide, and Royal Australian Spirit Awards.

Good things, undoubtedly, coming to those who wait.

St Agnes XXO Exceptional Reserve 50 Year Old

The age of this glorious celebration brandy is revealed firstly by its colour, now in the deepest of mahoganies, promising and delivering a sophisticated and layered nose, a defining element of such mature spirit. The detail: polished leather, rich marmalade, very old port barrels, dark chocolate and caramel across the nose and into the palate, with all the spices, some ginger and vanilla rising above a lingering wafting of baked chocolate and orange cake. There’s an overwhelming beauty in its aromatics and flavours that have taken half a century to meld and develop into its own unique expression, its spirit calming now to a gloriously smooth finish. A joy and a privilege to sip, slowly and surely, imbibing the immensity of its history. (46% abv/$4800) 100/100

St Agnes XO Centenary Reserve 30 Year Old

This new release completes the St Agnes range now to five -15YO, 20YO, 30YO, 40YO and 50YO – and is the first St Agnes brandy single cask bottling released in 100 years. It comes subtitled on the bottle also as “Cask Strength” and was distilled in 1993 from a base of Doradillo grapes. Colour wise it remains quite close to its youngers, the 15 and 20 year olds, though the nose is immediately more complex – darker caramels and spices with roasted orange peel. The oak presents as deeper yet supportively sweet and cedary, the palate quite concentrated with dried fruit notes, classic leathery polish and showing more punch in its alcohol heft. (50.5% abv/ $750) 95/100

St Agnes XO Grand Reserve 40 Year Old

Released to celebrate the 90th anniversary of St Agnes, the evidence of its years begins to show now as the colour deepens into a darker amber to mahogany. The nose covers a lot of ground: dried pear and apricot, quite fruity at first, the top notes spilling over into the palate where the spice rack reveals nutmeg, a bit of clove, vanilla, and roast hazelnut, with a sweeter seam of butterscotch and pipe tobacco leaf entwined in a subtle cedary matrix. Complex, satisfying, with plenty revealed in every sip. (43%abv/ $1000) 96/100

St Agnes XO 15 Year Old

The start point for St Agnes’s XO range with a minimum age of the spirit being 15 years. Even as the youngest in the range, its record of major show recognition in 2024 alone includes eight gold medals and five trophies, the biggie being champion brandy and overall champion spirit at the Royal Australian Spirit Awards 2024.  It deserves all of them. First impressions are its attractive dark gold colour then wafts of caramel, roast nuts, orange marmalade and maple syrup, within an oak barrel background, all of which slip naturally into the sipping with more orange notes, dried and concentrated, woven together into a gentle brandied spirit expression, smooth and warmly integrated. (40%abv/ $140) 96/100

St Agnes XO Imperial 20 Year Old

Five more years in the minimum age of the spirit here (compared to the youngest of the XOs). The colour is not overly more developed though the nose has deepened and evened out, fruit notes of poaching orange and mandarin, the roast nuttiness suggesting whiter almonds and cashews with a caramel of light brown sugar, all woven gently through the palate with muted oak barrel feels. Smoothly balanced with a sense of sophistication throughout. (40% abv/ $140) 95/100

Angus Hughson
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