1980 Berry Bros. & Rudd Calvados Pays d'Auge, Christian Drouin (47%)

Since the early 1960s, three generations of the Drouin family have been growing apples, making cider, distilling spirit and patiently ageing it to become absolutely first-class Calvados. Now led by the extraordinarily talented Guillaume Drouin, the orchards are in magnificent condition, the distillery produces consistently wonderful eaux de vie, and the multifarious barrel cellars are repositories of calm, considered maturation using a wide range of cask types.

Traces of nougat and garlic roulade settle down to deliver deep caramelised sugar and toffee sweetness with some lavender water to soften the bruised apple richness. Peppercorn spice gives zest and there is some lime and lemon citrus undercut by a liquorice edge. Long, patient maturation will allow the strangely beautiful complexities of a spirit such as this to present.