Over the last couple of years I’ve not been buying much non-whisky spirits. Of course there has been the occasional rum and a bottle of Mezcal, but other than that, things are few and far between.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t enough to go through from years gone, but bottles not gone. This Marquis de la Pomme Calvados is one of these bottles. I got this one in 2021 for sharing purposes, but mostly because it’s insanely old and old Calvados is awesome.

Back then, things like this went for about € 150, at Slijterij Vonk in Zaandam. A good things about really good bottle shops that don’t necessarily focus on whisky is that there’s stuff like this to be found on dusty shelves.

Anyway, I decided yesterday was a good moment to finally finish my bottle with a rather massive dram. And of course, I hadn’t written tasting notes yet, so that still had to be done too.

Sniff:
Rich, very apple forward for such an old Calvados, and with a hint of iron. There’s oak and apple wood, a little bit of vanilla too.

Sip:
A very gentle palate, with dry woodiness. A hint of cork, lots of oak, dry apples, but still crisp. A hint of black pepper, iron and copper. A very small note of something industrial in the background.

Swallow:
A long and still dry finish, lots of wood, apples. Iron and copper, copper polish too.

This is exactly why older spirits can be so awesome. Luckily the very long time in oak hasn’t taken over the spirit completely, and the long time in a bottle with oxygen hasn’t over-oxidized the spirit either. The combination of wood and apples works really well, and all the other flavors are just a bonus. Great stuff!

90/100