One of the world’s most prized fruit brandies is Calvados, an apple brandy produced in France’s Normandy region as far back as the 14th century. There, producers select from more than 40 different apple varieties to ensure their final spirit has the right balance of flavors.
The Normans produce a basic fermented and distilled apple cider or eau-de-vie de cidre. There are three Calvados appellations: Calvados Pays d’Auge, where the brandy is made by fermenting apple cider and double-distilling it in Cognac-style Charentais pot stills; Calvados Domfrontais, home to a similar spirit that must include 30 percent pears; and Calvados, with only a minimum aging requirement of two years. These last two Calvados styles are single-distilled in column stills.
Like Cognac and Armagnac brandies, Calvados ages in small, new oak casks for up to one year and then is transferred to larger casks for longer aging. Some Calvados brandies may age for decades before being blended, bottled and labeled according to age. The resulting spirits possess apple notes with vanilla and other flavors from oak aging.
