About this calvados:
In November 2024 we discovered this calvados in a place you don’t forget easily: an old Manoir (French country house), deep in the French countryside. No showroom, no marketing—just a real farm where one outbuilding after another was crammed full of casks of calvados or cows. A labyrinth of wood, dust, silence and aromas, as if time itself was stored there. This exceptional calvados from 1973 aged in oak from its distillation in 1973 until 2019, after which it was transferred to a stainless steel (inox) tank to preserve its exceptional character.
About the producer:
Normandy is much more touristy than the Cognac region; we followed the cider route and ended up at what at first sight seemed like a “small cider and calvados producer”. Michèle and Patrice Giard run a typical estate in the Pays d’Auge where dairy (lots of cows) and apple growing go hand in hand. Around the Manoir de Montreuil, in the middle of the green valleys, they manage about 30 hectares of traditional high-stem orchards. Their cider is made from more than 50 old apple varieties. The apples first ripen in the attic to concentrate the sugars, are then pressed and fermented sur lie. The cider then matures for 15 months in oak casks before being distilled. Until 1988, 90% of that cider was distilled in wood-fired alambics; afterwards Patrice invested in a modern 15-hectolitre Charentais still.
Tasting notes:
Nose: Ripe apple (baked apple, apple compote), apricot and cider. Underneath, a pronounced wild fermentation signature: farmyard tones of hay, leather, beautifully interwoven with old oak, beeswax, nutty notes and a fine spiciness.
Taste: Layered. Candied apple, preserved peaches, followed by walnut, apple peel and elegant wood structure. The “farmy” notes are very present but act as a deepening element—like in very fruity geuze where the fruit is carried by a rustic, living freshness. Truly a waxy profile. Wait... are we tasting old calvados here or is this a Brora single malt from 1978??
Finish: Long, warming and elegant. Ends with a beautiful balance between fruit, wood and that typical wild-ferment funk that keeps resonating. Classy calvados!
Label explanation:
For LE BOUC (the buck) we deliberately chose the billy goat as the artwork: a nod to the wild fermentation in the cider process. This natural fermentation sometimes gives pronounced, funky fruity scents and aromas that recall the visit to an old goat stable.
