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Tag: Toutain calvados

Toutain Calvados – Apple Harvest Time

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

Toutain Calvados

October always denotes the start of the apple harvest which, for us, means Calvados.  A French brandy made from apples, Calvados can only be made in a specified area of Normandy.  One of our favourite suppliers, Toutain, have their orchards in the top cru, Pays d’Auge.  The ‘cidre’ they produce is then distilled on column stills to enhance the fruity flavours.  This year we have extended our range of Toutain Calvados to include:

Toutain Reserve 3 Year Old – Fresh with a strong palate, full of taste. A lingering flavour of cooked apples.

Toutain XO 8 Year Old – Smooth, a mix of apple and wood. It is fresh with minerals and a slightly peppery taste.

Toutain Hors d’Age 15 Year Old  – Well balanced with flavours of green apples, dried fruit and vanilla.

Toutain Vieille Reserve 30 Year Old – Intense and round with flavours of vanilla, wood and hints of fruit on the tail.

Toutain Cuveé Ancestrale 45 Year Old – Intense and elegant with a long finish, reminiscent of ‘Tarte Tatin’.

Toutain Reserve Odile 60 Year Old – Apples and candied fruits (apricots, orange & ginger) with a spicy finish.

Expansion Of Our Toutain Calvados Range

Posted in How to make Calvados, News, News from the Brandy Houses and tagged , , , ,

Toutain CalvadosThe Apple Of A Brandy Drinker’s Eye

We have just expanded our recently acquired 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.  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.)  They are smooth and mellow with an unmistakable apple flavour and now the whole range comes in a new, boxed presentation.

The two new products on our shelves are as follows:

Toutain Reserve 3 Year Old Calvados.   The youngest in the range but still with the delicious aroma and flavour of vanilla and cooked apples.  RRP £37.92.

Toutain Reserve Odile 60 Year Old Calvados.  This exclusive bottling pays tribute to Odile Toutain who, 60 years ago, took over the management of Domaine de la Couterie.  Distilled in 1959, the calvados was carefully aged for 60 years in the family cellars. Presented in a beautiful carafe and sealed in a wooden housing, only a limited edition of 234 bottles is available.  RRP £881.58

View the entire range of Toutain age-statemented calvados here.

National Calvados Week and Liqueur Day

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

calvados weekCalvados is a brandy made from apples and produced exclusively in Normandy.  Its history dates back to 1553, when the drink was known as cidre eau-de-vie.  The name calvados was introduced in the late 1700s, when France was divided into departments, and it is now known as one of the Three Noble French Eaux de Vie (cognac and armagnac being the other two).  National Calvados Week is now in its tenth year and will run, alongside the annual apple harvest, from 10 – 16 October in bars and retailers throughout the UK.  World Calvados Day will follow on shortly afterwards, on the 20th October, which falls on the eve of National Apple Day.  If calvados is new to you, now is the time to try it.  We have recently taken on a new supplier, Toutain, whose calvados are some of the finest we have ever tasted.  Rich in fruity, appley flavours they evoke perfect seasonal aromas of autumn in the North of France.

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Also on the 16th of October we will be celebrating National Liqueur Day.  A liqueur is a distilled spirit-based drink that is further blended with natural sweet flavours (such as sugar or corn syrup along with fruits, nuts, creams, plats, purees, spices, etc).   Although the base spirit will have been aged, the liqueur is not; it just undergoes a brief resting stage for the flavours to blend.  Liqueurs generally have an abv of 15 – 30% and are great for cocktails.  You can also have them straight, mixed with other drinks or desserts, or simply poured over ice.  Check out our range, including Nusbaumer, here.