Christian Drouin Sélection Calvados

Detailed Description

For his entry-level calvados, Drouin chooses apples and pears from the Domfront region, and single-column distillation (as opposed to the double-distillation in a pot still used for his other spirits) to create a lighter, earlier-maturing spirit. This young calvados is intended as an aperitif or to be used in cocktails.

Christian Drouin Sélection Calvados Brandy Tasting Notes

Nose: Crisp, fruity, and dangerously easy to drink, this obviously youthful calvados deviating a little from the classic flavor profile, towards something resembling a German-style Obstler, with fresh, vibrant, almost gossamer apple and pear flavors, a little iris, white pepper, and cider vinegar on the nose.

Palate: It has the barest hint of movie-theater “popcorn butter” on the mid-palate, and some aloe and demerara sugar on the back end.

Finish: Refreshing.

Distillery Information

Calvados has been in production for more than 400 years, but C. Drouin Calvados began rather unintentionally around 1960. Christian Drouin Sr., grandfather to the current head of the company Guillaume Drouin, purchased a country house in the Pays d’Auge area of Normandy in 1960. The house sat on a farm with an apple orchard, and Drouin Sr. harvested the apples on his estate in hopes of seeing a return. He was disappointed to find that the price for apples was so low that he wouldn’t even recoup his harvesting expenses, so he held onto his fruit and sought an alternative solution.