Calvados Giard 1980 42%

Giard Domaine du Manoir de Montreuil 1980 42%

Funky Pays d’Auge

Only the second calvados on Hors d’Age since a nice Dupont bottled by Cadenhead.  Don’t know why but I think you’ll see a bit more of apple-distilled things in the coming weeks. But let’s begin with this 43yo Pays d’Auge. 

Colour: Mahogany, orange lights. Irregular medium tears.

Nose: Overcooked apple. Nice honeyed tones and herbal shades. Endless licorice notes. Spiced notes on paprika and Tabasco. A little briny in the background. Great heady notes on orange blossom followed by bitter chocolate smells. Shy mentholated notes too. 

Palate: Super oily texture. Extreme richness. Full of spices (caraway, cinnamon, nutmeg) and overripe fruits such as bananas and peaches. It goes beyond the apple, and that’s what I love to get with old calvados. Christmas tea aromas in the aftertaste. Hints of herbal notes with thyme and chopped basil.

Last Notes: Breakfast buttery notes of croissant. Bang. Perfect roundness on tinned plums and caramelized apples. Hints of freshness on elderflower and fresh mint leaves. Still a lingering spiciness on Christmas tea and a little of clove shades too. Back on the palate, it remains extremely rich and consistent. ABV seems at the right height here. Reasonable oak influence. It ends on pear eau-de-vie and apricot stew.

What a nice one from Normandy. Various shades, exquisite richness. With some extra complexity, it could have reached something around 90. Not too bad for a calvados, isn’t it?

My very subjective note: 88+/100

More info about Calvados Giard / Domaine du Manoir de Montreuil