Michel Guillouet-Huard "Le Pertyer" Couvreur Sherry-Cask Calvados

43.5% ABV, 750 ml, Finished for two years in Amontillado Sherry Casks

• Sherry-cask-finished Calvados produced by seventh-generation producer Jean-Francois Guillouet in Caligny, Suisse-Normand, under the AOC appellation
• Distilled from 100% apple
• Cider is naturally fermented sur lie in fiberglass, stainless steel, and enamel-lined tanks for 8–12 months
• Distilled on a traveling, wood-fired copper column still
• Hors d’Age Calvados aged in French oak is finished for 2 years in ex-Amontillado sherry casks in the cellars of famed French whisky producer, Michel Couvreur, in Bouze-les-Beaune, Burgundy
• Bottled in May 2021
• Aromas of flambéed Honeycrisp apples, Demerara sugar, toasted pecans, and a subtle, oxidized note of sherry lead to a palate of vanilla custard, dulce de leche, and candied apple with a midline of confident acidity throughout. Savory herbs and dark caramel languish on a bittersweet finish.

"The Huard family have lived on the Le Pertyer property in the Suisse-Normand for 5 generations. Jean-Francois Guillouet, who fully took over in 2012 when his grandfather Michel died, is the seventh generation. If one were to consider the properties of Camut and Giard from the Domaine de Montreuil as the most stunning examples of hautes-tiges plantings in the Pays d'Auge, and Lemorton as the most revered property in the Domfrontais, the Huard property would have to be considered the most admired in AOC Calvados.

Nearly 1,800 trees on standard rootstock grace the 15-hectare property, sitting on a loamy soil composed of an ideal combination of silt and clay. Around 20 varieties of apple, mostly the sweet and bittersweet types, are grown and tended to here (along with the family's 50 steer!).

The cider is fermented and aged for about 8 months, then distilled in a traveling column still. The spirits then go into large, elongated barrels, stained black by time, or well-seasoned 400 liter barrels where there complex apple flavors develop."

--Charles Neal