Adrien Camut 12 Years Old Pays d'Auge Calvados Domaine de Semainville

Adrien Camut 12-Year-Old Calvados from Domaine de Semainville is a beautifully mature expression of Pays d’Auge craftsmanship. With a dozen years of slow oak aging and oxidative refinement, it delivers layered intensity—vibrant orchard fruit anchored by honeyed toffee, baking spice, and earth-driven nuance. This is a striking step up from younger offerings: rich and intricate, with lasting depth in every sip.

🧪 Origins & Craftsmanship

• Produced by the Camut family—now seven generations strong—in Pays d’Auge, Normandy. The estate exclusively uses hautes-tiges–style heritage apples grown on-site.

• The cider ferments 10–11 months in wood, then is double-distilled in wood-fired copper pot stills. Aged at least 12 years in seasoned Limousin oak tonneaux and foudres, barrels are filled to just 75% capacity and frequently racked to promote oxidation and concentration. Only rainwater is added; no new wood, additives, or caramel coloring.
  

👃 Nose (Aroma)

• Opens with baked apple crumble and crème fraîche, followed by clover honey, subtle smoked apple, and lingering baking spice like cinnamon and clove.

• Fresh green apple skin and apple confit emerge alongside vanilla and delicate orchard grass—or even a whisper of mushroom in more evolved pours.
  

👅 Palate & Texture

• On the palate: juicy caramel apple, rich brown sugar, and deep earthy weight. Think stewed Bramley apple and Demerara sweetness layered with gentle brine and brown sugar spice.

• It’s plush and almost chewy, but balanced—bright enough to feel alive yet deep enough to feel aged.
  

🔁 Finish

• A lingering finish of sugared apple, soften oak tannin, and warm spice, with discreet herbal or vegetal edges. The flavor slowly recedes with precision, leaving a touch of dryness and depth.
  

🌟 Highlights

A highly-respected grower with one of the best collections of old Calvados around, normally showing notes of baked apples and licorice.