Busnel 12 Year Old X.O. Hors D’Auge Calvados 70cl
$181.00 $153.85
Carefully, calmly and precisely, Busnel 12 Year Old distillers and cellar masters distill and blend traditional Calvados using their unique expertise. Patient and persistent, they know that a product with such a fine ancestry deserves special attention and thorough care over a number of years. When you taste Busnel Calvados, you discover unique spirits that combine balance, carefully judged proportions and harmonious flavors.
Opening nosings offer concentrated oak, paraffin/melted candle and baked apple; bouquet expands incrementally as raisiny/pruny/dried red fruit and cocoa override the wood and wax aromas. Palate entry is long, properly oily and full-bodied; the flavor profile turns raisiny, chocolaty and coffee-like, with just a hint of seared pork sausage. Finishes long, fat, buttery and fruity.
From the Pays d’Auge in Normandy comes this excellent apple brandy, double-distilled in small copper potstills and aged for 12 years for a distinctive ripe apple flavour.
When it comes to French apple brandy (Calvados), Busnel (which has been producing since 1820) isn’t as big a name in the U.S. as Boulard, but that may be set to change as ultra-premium expressions like this XO bottling, carrying a 12 year old age statement, hit the domestic market.
On the XO, a slight cider vinegar character gives the nose an immediate pungency, with toasty wood and gentle vanilla imbuing the spirit with the essence of Calvados. The palate is a bit gentler with fresh apple notes, moderated sweetness, and a touch of cinnamon. There’s still plenty of funk here to go around, though, with mushroom and leather notes dominating the experience as the finish emerges — sharp, slightly sour with tart apple notes, and a bitter edge that lasts for some time.