Le Gin de Christian Drouin, France (42%, 70cl)

What happens when one of the best Calvados producers in the world makes a Gin? Well you get this, all botanicals distilled in small batches separetly to be blended for the final product. A very unique Gin with a cider base.

About Christian Drouin
Calvados house Christian Drouin was founded immediately after the Second World War by Christian Drouin, who had set himself the goal of producing the absolute best calvados in the world. This led him in the first instance to seek out the area's smaller vintners to buy up their stocks of calvados, which laid the foundation for the house's exceptional collection of vintage calvados.

In 1960, Christian Drouin then decided to take the plunge and produce his own calvados. However, 19 years had to pass before he felt that the collection of old eau de vies combined with his own production was sufficiently large for him to bottle the first calvados under the house's own name. Since then, Christian Drouin has had tremendous success, and today he can boast of having received more awards and prizes for the product range than all other calvados producers combined! In addition to the famous vintage calvados that date back to 1939, the house also produces a number of fantastic blends, pommeaus and ciders.

Green development
Christian Drouin is one of the few producers who leaves a positive mark on nature. With the many apple trees and more than 35 different apple varieties, Christian Drouin absorbs 600 tons of CO2 per day. On the other hand, the production "costs" only 200 tonnes - per year. Here, cows roam between the trees, and they are smart enough to know that if they shake the trees, apples will fall. The good thing, is that it is the sick and bad apples that fall down and become food for the cows. In other words, the cows contribute to the apples used in production being healthy, and tasty. At the same time, the cows also eat the grass between the trees, thus making mowing redundant. Win/win. The apple varieties are primarily local, Norman apple varieties with some tannins. Christian Drouin is nothing less than the world's most winning spirits producer across all categories.

The apples ferment anywhere from five weeks to five months and turn into fantastic cider. It can then be distilled and become calvados. Typically, you will use both young and old in the blend, as the old Calvados typically have more acid. The Calvados is aged in casks and changes its character. The taste goes from fresh apples to ripe apples, to apple jam to baked apples, depending on the length of barrel ageing.