Roger Groult’s 2009 Cask #351 13 Yr. Pays D'Auge Calvados

 In the glass this has a light caramel hue. Turning to the nose, there are aromas of light apple, baking spices, oak spice, and a light fresh cut mint note. The palate shows a good presence of flavor and a wonderful texture with flavors of caramel, oak spice, just baked apples and fall leaves. D&M Tasting Notes

The family’s stills are on the small side and unique in that they remain wood fired. After being distilled twice, the resulting spirit goes into the family’s stock of barrels which range in size between 100 and 13000 liters, and some of them are approaching a century of time in the cellar. The family has historically used a perpetual or solera system of barrels for their age-designated bottlings where newer spirit is added to barrels that contain older spirits. This bottle is a bit of a departure from their classic multi-generational approach of releasing age statement spirits. The spirit was distilled in 2009 and aged in a standard oak barrel (#351) for 13 years before being bottled in August 2022 at 50% ABV, and is 1 of only 366 bottles. Michael Kennel, D&M