Calvados
Calvados is apple brandy and occasionally pear brandy (Poire Calvados) from Normandy. Three AOCs govern production: Calvados Pays d'Auge (double distillation in copper pot stills required, from the Auge valley), Calvados Domfrontais (single distillation permitted, minimum 30% pear must), and the broader Calvados appellation (column still permitted). The raw material cider pressed from traditional bittersweet and bittersharp apple varieties specific to the Norman orchard tradition, with over 200 named varieties recognised in the Pays d'Auge differentiates calvados from other fruit brandies and requires slow fermentation before distillation.
Christian Drouin anchors Bouchon's range a leading Pays d'Auge estate at Coudray-Rabut, which grows its own orchards, produces cider, distils in copper pot stills, and matures on site. The Drouin range runs from young Fine and Reserve expressions through to XO and Hors d'Age, including the Whisky Finesse expression (Scotch malt finished in Drouin's Calvados casks). Roger Groult (Saint-Cyr-du-Ronceray, Pays d'Auge) specialises in traditional estate production and older vintage releases. Adrien Camut (Beuvron-en-Auge, Pays d'Auge) is one of the smallest and most traditional estates in the region.
Cocktails
6 cocktails — hover for the recipe
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Build
50 ml calvados
20 ml fresh grapefruit juice
20 ml Swedish Punsch (substitute aged rum + a pinch of brown sugar)Method
Shake all ingredients with ice. Double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
Diki Diki
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Build
45 ml calvados
15 ml yellow Chartreuse (or substitute herbal liqueur)
15 ml Bénédictine (or substitute honey-herbal liqueur)
2 dashes Angostura bittersMethod
Stir all ingredients with ice until very cold. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Widow's Kiss
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Build
60 ml Christian Drouin VSOP Calvados (substituting applejack)
22 ml fresh lemon juice
15 ml grenadineMethod
Shake hard with ice. Double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist. A pink, tart aperitif from the Prohibition era.
Jack Rose
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Build
60 ml Christian Drouin VSOP Calvados
5 ml absinthe (rinse)
5 ml simple syrup
3 dashes Peychaud's bittersMethod
Rinse a chilled rocks glass with absinthe and discard the excess. Stir Calvados, syrup, and bitters with ice. Strain into the prepared glass. Express a lemon peel over and discard.
Sazerac (Calvados)
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Build
45 ml Christian Drouin VSOP Calvados (or cognac)
30 ml orange curaçao
22 ml fresh lemon juiceMethod
Shake hard with ice. Double strain into a chilled coupe with an optional sugar rim (half-rim is correct). Garnish with an orange peel.
Sidecar
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Build
22 ml rye whiskey
22 ml Christian Drouin VSOP Calvados
22 ml Distilleria Negroni Vermouth Rosso
5 ml Bénédictine
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
2 dashes Angostura bittersMethod
Stir all ingredients with ice for 30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a lemon peel.
Vieux Carré
Calvados
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