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Tag: calvados

Dupont 10 Year Old Calvados

Posted / in News and tagged ,

Coming from the heart of Normandy, Calvados is a distinguished apple brandy, celebrated for its rich history and meticulous craftsmanship. Derived from the double distillation of fermented apple and pear juice, this exquisite spirit is aged in oak barrels, creating a sensory journey that encapsulates the essence of the orchards from which it originates.

Dupont 10 Year Old Calvados

Dupont 10 Year Old Pays d’Auge Calvados

Enter the world of refinement with Dupont 10 Year Old Pays d’Auge Calvados, an embodiment of unparalleled expertise and dedication. Sourced from the finest orchards in Normandy, this calvados is a testament to the Dupont family’s legacy of over a century. Dupont employs traditional methods, ensuring a genuine reflection of the region’s heritage. Distillation captures the essence of the carefully selected apples, while the extended maturation period in oak barrels imparts depth and complexity.

The Dupont 10 Year Old Calvados unveils a symphony of flavours. Delicate apple notes intertwine with hints of vanilla, silky apples and oak, creating a harmonious blend that caresses the palate. The ageing process lends it a golden hue, while the aroma invites you to explore the orchards with every sip.  At 42% abv, this 10 Year Old calvados strikes the perfect balance, allowing the intricate flavours to unfold gracefully.

For those seeking the pinnacle of apple brandy excellence, the Dupont 10 Year Old Pays d’Auge Calvados is available for purchase for £81.60.

Christmas Luxury Gift Guide

Posted / in Brandy Bottle Reviews, News and tagged , , , , , , ,

December is well underway so its time to turn our attention to present shopping. But, what do you buy for the person who has everything? Well, we’ve put together a list of our favourite, luxury drinks that will go down a storm this Christmas. Not only do they taste fantastic, some of the packaging is exquisite and will grace any sideboard with aplomb.

The three, classic French brandies of cognac, armagnac and calvados really come into their own at this time of year as their typical flavours of roasted nuts, spices and dried fruits complement the Christmas fayre brilliantly.

We have selected 5 of our favourites to feature here but go and explore our website, there are so many Christmas Luxury Gifts from which to choose.

Christmas Luxury Gift Guide

Hermitage 50 Year Old Grande Champagne Cognac

Winner of The IWSC Cognac Trophy 2021, this masterpiece is still in cask. The Judges described it as “Like opening an old leather-bound book or antique oak armoire. Figgy pudding and rich dark chocolate; wonderful rich spices and the bitterness of orange zest come through on the palate. Spicy but gentle and supremely dry.” RRP £531.60

Christmas Luxury Gift Guide

Toutain Reserve Odile 60 Year Old Calvados

This exclusive bottling pays tribute to Odile Toutain who, 60 years ago, took over Domaine de la Couterie. Distilled in 1959, it was carefully aged for 60 years in the family cellars before a limited edition of only 234 bottles was released. Presented in a beautiful carafe, sealed in a wooden housing, this is a truly rare gift. RRP £1164.60

Christmas Luxury Gift Guide

Darbeau 1943 Bas Armagnac

Steeped in history, this 1943 Bas Armagnac was distilled during the height of World War II when many wonderful brandies were requisitioned by the occupying forces. Few survived but this wonderful example of a top cru armagnac s one of the few that remain. Distilled 70 years ago, it epitomises history in a bottle. RRP £1908.00

Christmas Luxury Gift Guide

Hermitage 1923 Grande Champagne Cognac

Imagine life a century ago, that is when this stunning cognac was made. Tasting cognac from that era is a extra special treat, especially when, according to Olly Smith, Wine & Spirits Expert, it “has a gorgeous flavour, somewhere between a sultana and a sun-dried apricot with the spirit framing the layers with impeccable integration.” RRP £2086.40

Christmas Luxury Gift Guide

Hermitage Cognac Marie Louise Crystal Decanter

The icing on our Luxury Christmas Gift Guide cake! A masterpiece of smoothness, aged for 70 years in oak barrels, it is described by Victoria Moore of the Saturday Telegraph as “Likely to be one of the finest cognacs you have tasted.” This litre of amazing cognac is all wrapped up in a completely hand-blown and hand-cut, full-lead luxury English crystal decanter. What more could you ask for? RRP £2220.00

Magnum of Calvados Toutain 8 Year Old

Posted in Brandy Bottle Reviews, News and tagged , , ,

Magnum of calvados

We have a very special treat for the calvados lover ….. a magnum of 8 Year Old from the top cru. Calvados is usually sold in 70 cl bottles but this one is 150 cl and perfect for a gathering or celebration. This Toutain magnum of calvados comes in a traditionally shaped bottle and really does look the part. It would certainly be a talking point for its rarity, presence and wonderful flavour.

The Toutain family has been developing calvados in Normandy for 5 generations, while respecting family customs and ancestral traditions that give big names to small houses. It has been located at the Domaine de la Couterie since 1971, which is located at the gateway to the Pays d’Auge from Paris, in the small town of Beuzeville. The family business was created more than 95 years ago and today extends over an estate of 25 hectares of traditional ‘high-stem’ plants. These orchards consist of 35 varieties of cider apples, spread over two farms, both located in the AOC Calvados Pays d’Auge Geographical Area. Almost all of their calvados is distilled on a column type alembic still because this technique gives a more fruity flavour, which deepens with age.

This XO calvados has been aged for at least 8 years, initially in 30 – 40 hl oak barrels but subsequently in smaller, 15 – 20 hl ones. It has a wonderful appley flavour and can be drunk as an aperitif (straight on ice or in a cocktail) or as a digestif served at room temperature to allow enough time to air.

Five of the Most Popular Types of Apple Brandy

Posted / in How to make Calvados, Learning about Brandy, News and tagged , , , , ,

apple brandyWhether you call it applejack, calvados or bätzi, apple brandy is a spirit made from fermented and distilled apples.  There are clear, unaged versions and golden-coloured ones that have spent years in oak barrels.  These are five of the most popular:

Applejack

Historically, applejack was made with North American cider apples and produced using a method called “jacking” or freeze distillation. These days, however, it is typically distilled in column or pot stills and aged in barrels or bottled as a young, clear spirit.  Applejack and apple brandy are by definition the same, but there are minor differences between the apples used, terroir and the ageing process.

Bätzi

A clear brandy made from dried apples which comes from Switzerland’s Obwalden region.  The process of ageing can vary but the duration is usually six months or more.  Bätzi is closely related to another type of Swiss apple brandy, Träsch, but the latter is made with fresh, not dried apples.

Calvados

Calvados is an apple brandy which must be made with apples from Normandy, France as stated in its Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) status.  The apples are fermented into cider, distilled into eau-de-vie, and then aged for at least two years in oak barrels.  Whilst a small number of pears are permissible, the majority of the mix has to come from the region’s very many apple varieties.

Eau-de-Vie de Pomme

Crisp and water-clear, eau-de-vie is a broad category of brandy that can be made from pretty much any fruit. It’s produced in much of Europe as well as the U.S.  When made from apples, the spirit is called eau-de-vie de pomme.  The apples are fermented into cider before being distilled, often (but not always) in a copper pot still.  Eau-de-vie is generally unaged.

Obstler

Hailing from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, this is a clear, unaged spirit. As with calvados, it is not always exclusively made from apples; Obstler can contain a variety and larger quantities of other fruits in its mix.  Apple and pear obstler is common, but there are also varieties made with apples and plums, apricots and cherries.

World Calvados Day Thursday 20th October

Posted in Cocktails, Cocktails, News and tagged , , , ,

World Calvados DayToday Thursday, 20th October, is World Calvados Day.  If you would like to try this fabulous French apple brandy how about making something different?  Calvados and tonic is France’s answer to the G&T and is a staple in Normandy.  Although traditionally served chilled, it is just as fabulous with heaps of ice, a ton of tonic and a simple lemon twist producing a drink that’s “A little bitter and sweet, refreshing and bright”.

INGREDIENTS

Serving: 1

Garnish: lemon twist

DIRECTIONS
  1. Pour the Calvados into a Burgundy glass over ice.
  2. Top with tonic water.
  3. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Reproduced from Punch.

Calvados, The Modern, Sustainable Spirit

Posted in News, News from the Brandy Houses and tagged , , , , ,

spiritCalvados has long been the underdog of French spirits.  “Even in France, people quite liked it, but the image was dusty and old fashioned,” says Xavier d’Audiffret Pasquier, co-founder of Maison Sassy. “Our mission is to bring calvados back to life. We want to almost promote calvados like a gin, as a very modern spirit.”

Outside France, calvados has always been popular was the bartending community.  Tim Etherington-Judge says “First, it’s delicious. It has a very approachable flavour profile, not complex like a mezcal. But also, as a cocktail nerd, if you go back to some of the historical cocktail books, like The Savoy Cocktail Book or The Flowing Bowl, calvados is a regularly used ingredient.”  Coupette is a calvados bar in London that is helping to introduce the spirit to a new generation of fans.  Their most famous cocktail creation is named Apples, and the recipe is simple.  Each month a different calvados is mixed with the juice from a different variety of apple and carbonated. The result is stunning and in 2019 was named Cocktail of the Year.

The scope for calvados to continue to modernise is immense now that every spirit brand aims to brag about is sustainability credentials.  In a 2021 report by Business Wire, 85% of people indicated they had shifted their purchase behaviour to be more sustainable in the last five years.  There is no doubt that calvados has a case for being the world’s most sustainable spirit. This is what Etherington-Judge set out to create and Avallen was the result.  “We went right back to the raw materials that are used to create alcohols and instead of using the usual metrics of cost and flavour, we put the environment first. Based on four metrics – carbon emissions, biodiversity, water consumption and pesticide and fertiliser use – we analysed the ingredients and that research led us to apples.  The trees are carbon sinks, they support biodiversity in the traditional orchards of Normandy, there is no artificial irrigation, and there’s very little pesticide and fertiliser use within the orchard. From an environmental perspective, the orchards of Normandy are fantastic.”

We at Brandyclassics have searched high and low to find an exceptional calvados brand to champion and the result is Toutain.  Full of appley flavours, it’s the best we have ever tasted.

Read the full article on Modernising Calvados, written in Drinks International here.

Different Types of Brandy

Posted / in Brandy Education, Learning about Brandy, News and tagged , , , , ,

Here at Brandyclassics and Bunch & Bushel we sell three main types of French brandy: cognac, armagnac and calvados.

Brandy is the generic name for spirits that have been made from fruit and produced all over the world.  But some brandies have very specific guidelines concerning their production.  So what is the difference between our products?  This can be summarised as follows:

brandyCOGNAC

  • Made from specific grape varieties
  • Produced in the Cognac region of France only
  • The eau de vie must be distilled twice
  • Distilled in copper pot Charentais stills.

ARMAGNAC

  • Made from specific grape varieties
  • Produced in the Armagnac region of France only
  • The eau de vie is distilled just once
  • Produced on a continuous Alembic still

CALVADOS

  • Made from apples
  • Produced in the Calvados region in Normandy
  • Top cru calvados must use the double distillation method on a pot still to be labelled Pays d’Auge
  • Column still distillation is mandatory to produce Calvados Domfrontais

Read more about the production of these wonderful French brandies on our Brandy Education page.  Another useful article outlining the differences between 12 types of brandy can be found here.

 

Current Prices Held Until 25th July

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , ,

PricesIt’s been a difficult time, financially, for everyone this year as prices increase.

With energy prices soaring and raw material shortages across the globe, all our producers are struggling with increased costs.

Unfortunately, these increased costs have inevitably been passed on to us and so we have had to review our prices too.

Our new prices will, therefore, come into effect on Monday 25th July.

So, if you have some summer birthday gifts to buy, now’s the time to do it!

Toutain – New Range of Calvados

Posted in How to make Calvados, News and tagged , , , ,

ToutainWe have been looking for a new range of calvados to offer the UK market for some while.  It’s not been easy as so many are too sweet or have lost the appley flavour.  It was therefore tremendously exciting when we came across the Toutain Calvados range.  A family firm, now on the fifth generation, who produce calvados from their own orchards.

In keeping with the high standards of Brandyclassics, we know precisely how long each Toutain product has spent in cask.  This range includes Toutain Vieux, Hors d’Age, Vieille Reserve and Tres Vieille and they have been aged from 8 to 45 years.  They are smooth and mellow with an unmistakable apple flavour.

Unlike most calvados producers Toutain make their calvados without the addition of pears.  (Pears are usually added to increase acidity and in these cases a pear drop flavour can sometimes be detected.)  This is an interesting departure from the norm so one must conclude that their own apples have a very high level of acidity.

Not only are these calvados quite different they are delicious too!

Christmas Stock and Delivery Times

Posted / in News and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

ChristmasThis year we have expanded our online offering to include more spirits and liqueurs than ever before.  So, in addition to our award-winning cognacs, armagnacs and calvados, we now have organic whiskies and gins, liqueurs and grappas, eaux de vie and vermouths.  Do take a look at our website, we really do have Christmas gifts for everyone!

For Christmas deliveries to addresses in the UK please ensure your orders are with us by

12 noon on Wednesday 22nd December 2021

Generally, UK orders placed before 12 noon will be delivered the following working day but please be aware that although we are able to process orders within 1 working day, Parcelforce are not always able to meet their normal delivery times at present.   Our deliveries to America are also taking longer than usual due to a shortage of flights so all orders to the rest of the world should be placed as soon as possible please.