Roger Groult Venerable

Roger Groult Venerable

Brandy: Calvados
From: Pays d'Auge
House: Roger Groult
Style: Single distillery
Colour: Copper
ABV: 41%

N: dried apples, white grapes, cinnamon, toffee, chocolate, hints of fresh butter.

M: Light body, round, cool, slightly tingly.

T: Sweet salty. Cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh butter, milk toffee, bubble gum, hints of milk chocolate, hints of coffee.

F: Long. Kiwi fruit, milk toffee, dried apples, coffee

Comments:

So, we finally get to tasting Calvados. It's not a spirit that I've had a lot of experience with, but I've always enjoyed what I've tasted. Whisky tastes of grain, but that's normally buried under some layers of other flavours. Cognac tastes of raisins, mostly, whilst armagnac tastes of prunes, mostly. Calvados however, always tastes of apples, true to the original fruit.

For the first Calvados on Adventures in Brandy, I thought I would go for something fairly old. This one is more than 18 years old, and is aged in older casks. That shows of course - not much vanilla or tannins, instead there's heaps of fruit, making the flavour profile bright, and young. There's something salty here, think fresh Charentes butter, only married to spices, and something slightly bitter (yet fragrant) in the finish.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, my only niggle was the spirit's thin body. It sloshes around the mouth very well, but slips down quickly. The intensity fades, but the finish drags on and on. Very nice indeed.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.