Adrien Camut Reserve de Semainville

Adrien Camut Reserve de Semainville

Brandy: Calvados
From: Pays d'Auge
House: Adrien Camut
Style: Single distillery
Colour: Amber brown
ABV: 40%

N: Pear drops, dried apples, honey, chantilly cream, orange blossom, hints of leather, hints of prunes.

M: Heavy body, tingly, oily, astringent

T: Sweet. Dried apples, jasmine, honey, green tea, leather, cedar, hints of smoke

F: Long. Jasmine, dried apples, cedar, vanilla.

Comments:

I couldn't leave the Calvados alone. After the last couple of tasting notes, I was very intrigued, so I went back and tried another. This time I chose an Adrien Camut, a relatively famous producer that even this novice has heard of, a nice old one, blended from eaux-de-vie of between 20 and 25 years of age.

The legs of this spirit were huge and prominent, and the tasting did not disappoint. There's a depth of flavour, not really intensity, but a feeling of many layers to this spirit. Like peeling an onion, you get the impression that there's more to find, and it rewards sipping slowly and nosing the glass from a few different angles. There's apples of course, mostly dried now, but also zingy pear drops, floral notes such as orange blossom, and plenty of woody notes as well.

I wonder, what would cask strength Calvados taste like? The complexity here certainly would be more obvious at a higher ABV, and that might help improve the clarity of the flavours. Cursory research online suggests however that most Calvados is bottled around 40% and higher strength bottlings are few and far between.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.