STN: Dupont Calvados Plus de 24 ans'

"Louis Dupont is a name to conjure with in Calvados. They are especially renowned for their rare and precious bottles of well-aged Calvados du Pays d'Auge , understandably hard to find. For the ’Plus de 24 ans’, Dupont uses no sweet apples or pears in their blend, only bittersweet and acidic apples. Once fermented and cidered for six months, distillation is done twice in small copper alembics to reach sufficient alcohol levels and desired purity of flavor.

The apple eau-de-vie is stored for 24 years in a combination of oak vats and 400 liter oak barrels, the golden-hued brandy is then bottled (in this case the bottling date was 2007) and allowed to rest several months before release.

At 24 years (the youngest spirit must be at least 24 years old) the Dupont Calvados is a heady concoction of the natural aromas of apples and the long term effects of both wood and oxidative aging, so one sip will yield heady fresh apple scents; tangy, almost vinegary cider notes; luscious sweet aromatics and baking spices; and the wood notes of caramel and roasted hazelnut. The complexity is startling on the palate, and enhanced by a long, elegant finish. The whisper of fruit lingers quietly, with warmth and resonance.

The Dupont is impressive and commands such attention you force yourself to slow down, to appreciate and contemplate the experience, to allow the evening to spool out gracefully as you sip slowly, enjoying the heady scents of apple and spice, allowing the nectar to trickle slowly down your throat."

Thanks for that mouth-watering STN, Hoke. We love Calvados and it is hard to resist a slurp more frequently than once a week.

Dupont is quite close to where we live. I quite often drive past his impressive looking estate but have never yet visited it; an omission which I will remedy. I have had several of their younger cuvées but not that one which I guess may cost >€200. They are one of the best producers, IMO, with an elegant style.

Roger Groult is also close to us and I have visited and bought there several times, including older cuvées; a rather fuller style but without the caramelised excesses of some popular brands like Château de Breuil.

Based on a limited sample, the top of the pile seems to me to be Adrien Camut with a little something extra at each point in the age range, with also a not so little something extra in price.

There is a wonderful Calvados specialist shop in Caen, who offers good advice and tastes of many brands on sale. As I always have some 50km to drive home after visiting that city, I haven't taken advantage of that opportunity.

Thanks for the praise, and thanks even more for the information, Tim.

I envy your proximity to some of those lovely lovely Calvados producers. And sounds like I get easily get lost in that shop in Caen.

I'm familiar with the producers you mention---although not nearly as familiar as I would like to be. I barely touched on the Normandy region when I was investigating out from Paris and have always wanted to go back there. Now, more than ever.

My 'normal' drinking range is more along the lines of the younger LeMorton and one of my faves, the Dupont Vielle Reserve---a five year old, if I remember correctly. Lovely stuff, and more within my price range.

I was unduly pessimistic about the price of your Calva, Hoke. The Dupont website doesn't list a 24+ year old at present but the 20+ year old costs only €100, the 30+ costs €161 and the 1989 €119. The most expensive in their range is 1969 at €325.

They also offer a product called Calvados non-réduit, the 30 year + costing €200. I'm not sure what that signifies; perhaps no dilution of alcoholic strength? Here's a link to their website about it, which seems to bear out my guess http://www.calvados-boutique.com/en/cal ... eduit.html .

Quite near Dupont is another Calvados distillery, Pierre Huet, where we were shown round by a very informative young lady who seemed actually to work there and get her hands dirty unlike the usual hostess types. Their product is quite decent if not up the level of Dupont or Groult, let alone Camut.

It would be great to see you in Normandy, Hoke.

Tim, the non-reduit is most likely the formerly common practice of aging the calvados in smaller barrels and allowing the natural evaporation process to slowly bring the spirit down to the desired alcohol level for bottling. That way it is 'non-reduced' or not diluted by water. One of the reasons you will see varying abv levels in Calvados---they don't have the usual rigid adherence to the lowest minimum as more corporate producers do.

Believe me, I'd love to get to Normandy. Tried a few years ago. Was in Cognac, tripped down to Armagnac and hoped to get up to Normandy for at least a quick visit, but demands of time and budget precluded that, alas. On my bucket list.

One of the things I daydream about, beyond visiting the various notable producers, is sampling the many tiny little spirits that never make it out of the region; the ones that we never have the opportunity to enjoy.