surfaceone
Posts: 5764
Joined: 12/9/2008
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Comment ca va, Frederic,
That is a superb labelled brandy. Many thanks to Andre, eh? I found a bit of information on the firm. They've been revived and you can still get it today, though in not so wonderful a bottle.
 "Thomas Grant began making liqueurs such as Morella Cherry Brandy in Kent in 1774 and the brand is now owned by Shepherd Neame, Britain's oldest brewer, founded in 1698.
Today, Grant's Morella Cherry Brandy is still produced to the highest quality and continues to maintain the flavour and tradition of its celebrated past.
Grant's Morella Cherry Brandy, which holds a Royal Warrant from The Prince of Wales, is mentioned in The Pickwick Papers and was also a favourite tipple of Queen Victoria, whose portrait appears on the packaging.
It was judged Best Liqueur in the World at the 1994 International Wine and Spirit Awards." From.
Grant's were prolific advertisers:
 C. 1876 From.  1958 From.
There's some historyof the old Kent firm: "The story of Cherry Downs starts back in the late 18th century when a distillery in Limekiln Street, Dover was owned by three partners. Thomas Grant of Sutton Valance was one of the partners who took over the business totally in 1847 and handed it to his son Thomas Grant Junior. Whilst Thomas was a noted distiller in Dover he had a package of wild Morello cherries sent to him as present from a local fruit grower.
Mr Grant was intrigued by their qualities with a very distinctive flavour and rich colour. From this stemmed an idea that they could be used for producing a delicious liqueur and then Grant’s Morella Cherry Brandy was born.
Grants Morella Cherry Brandy was first produced in Dover until disaster struck and the cliff face overhanging the distillery collapsed and enveloped
the whole site. Despite this catastrophe, Grants found new sites in Maidstone and Lenham; both sites were developed next to the new railway which was being built in the 1880’s, enabling direct transport from the distilleries by rail.
Within the villages of Lenham and Lenham Heath, Morello cherries grew in orchards and hedgerows, the source
of the cherries used for the production of the cherry brandy. In 1892, over 20,000 trees furnished Grants with most of the fruit needed to produce their cherry brandy. George Bunyard a orticulturalist and fruit breeder from
Maidstone wrote in 1911 ‘apart from its qualities as a beverage, it is also a fine medicine in cases of diarrhoea and dysentery, it is not made from the Morello’s such as grow on walls, but from a local wild Morello’.
The manufacture of the cherry brandy continued until the 1960’s when E Leslie Grant, the great-great-grandson of the founder died and the company was taken over. Grants Morella Cherry Brandy is still available today through Shepherd Neame of Faversham." From.
There's a High Court case from 1885 over here, in which Mr. Grant defends his Trademark against a Mr. Barker, former customer, and wouldbe sharpy.
**** Sorry, my borrowed computer is being repossessed by my darling daughter just now. Type at ya later, Frederic. Those Neame dudes would probably pay handsomely for yours...****
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Grant's MORELLA Cherry Brandy... BIMAL!! - 
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