  Kappa Andromedae is a B9IVn star at 52 pc for which a faint substellar
companion separated by 55 AU was recently announced. In this work, we present
the first spectrum of the companion, "kappa And B," using the Project 1640
high-contrast imaging platform. Comparison of our low-resolution YJH-band
spectra to empirical brown dwarf spectra suggests an early-L spectral type.
Fitting synthetic spectra from PHOENIX model atmospheres to our observed
spectrum allows us to constrain the effective temperature to ~2000K, as well as
place constraints on the companion surface gravity. Further, we use previously
reported log(g) and effective temperature measurements of the host star to
argue that the kappa And system has an isochronal age of 220 +/- 100 Myr, older
than the 30 Myr age reported previously. This interpretation of an older age is
corroborated by the photometric properties of kappa And B, which appear to be
marginally inconsistent with other 10-100 Myr low-gravity L-dwarfs for the
spectral type range we derive. In addition, we use Keck aperture masking
interferometry combined with published radial velocity measurements to rule out
the existence of any tight stellar companions to kappa And A that might be
responsible for the system's overluminosity. Further, we show that luminosity
enhancements due to a nearly "pole-on" viewing angle coupled with extremely
rapid rotation is unlikely. Kappa And A is thus consistent with its slightly
evolved luminosity class (IV) and we propose here that kappa And, with a
revised age of 220 +/- 100 Myr, is an interloper to the 30 Myr Columba
association with which it was previously associated. The photometric and
spectroscopic evidence for kappa And B combined with our re-assesment of the
system age implies a substellar companion mass of 50^{+16}_{-13} Jupiter
Masses, consistent with a brown dwarf rather than a planetary mass companion.
