Overview: Maison Ferrand UK has launched Christian Drouin Calvados Experimental Planteray Clarendon Angels as part of a new distribution partnership. The 16-year-old Pays d’Auge Calvados joins the portfolio alongside flagship brands including Planteray Rum, Citadelle Gin, and Ferrand Cognac.
The Full Story
The expression is available from Starmore Boss in Sheffield and Master of Malt for £99.99 (US$135). Darryl Cripps, managing director of Maison Ferrand UK, noted a real synergy between Drouin and the rest of the portfolio, describing it as another family-run French producer with heritage, patience and serious craft at its heart. Guillaume Drouin, CEO of Christian Drouin Calvados, added that the partnership aims to increase market penetration in the UK through cocktail bars, restaurants, and wine shops. The house produces La Blanche, an unaged eau-de-vie de cidre; the Calvados Pays d’Auge series of Réserve, VSOP, XO and Hors d’Âge; and Calvados Sélection, a column-distilled blend of ciders and perries. The house also offers Les Millésimés, a collection of rare vintage Calvados dating to 1939. Christian Drouin Calvados is exported to 65 countries.
The Calvados producer has joined Maison Ferrand UK’s flagship brands Planteray Rum, Citadelle Gin, Ferrand Cognac, Canerock, and Dry Curaçao, alongside partner brands Koch Mezcal, Adriatico Amaretto, Boann Irish Whiskey, and Orendain Tequila. The Calvados was finished for five months in former rum casks. Planteray Clarendon Angels is a 16-year-old Pays d’Auge Calvados that was matured for five months in five ex-Clarendon Monymusk Light Continental casks from 2020.
Production & Profile
The expression offers aromas of ‘dried apple and dried apricot’, with ‘ripe banana and sugar cane’ on the nose, and a palate of ‘praline, dried fruit and pepper’. The Calvados is double-distilled in a traditional 2,500-litre Charentais pot still, with ageing in small oak casks. Production involves organic orchards with 35 cider apple varieties. Previous editions of Experimental were finished in Hampden, Chichibu, Arran, and Long Pond rum casks.
Brand & Industry History
The eponymous Christian Drouin senior founded his Calvados house in Pays d’Auge in the 1960s, taking over a cider apple orchard at the Fiefs Sainte-Anne farm near Honfleur. The family’s third generation, Christian and Guillaume Drouin, now run the business. The house has two organic orchards planted exclusively with traditional hautes tiges (tall trunk) trees, drawing on 35 varieties of organic cider apples across the bitter, sweet, bitter-sweet, and sharp families, as well as other small, family-owned orchards in the neighbourhood.
What This Means
There’s a real synergy between Drouin and the rest of our portfolio, being another family-run French producer with heritage, patience and serious craft at its heart. Maison Ferrand UK shares a passion for fine spirits, a commitment to craftsmanship, and a long-term perspective. The partnership is designed to help Christian Drouin Calvados increase its market penetration in the UK – one of the most dynamic markets for Calvados.
Consumer Takeaway
The bottle is available via Starmore Boss and Master of Malt. Retail price is £99.99 (US$135). Sheffield retail availability is confirmed.
Source: Read the original article
