Calvados

Heavenly Spirits is proud to be the #1 importer of Organic Calvados to the US. We represent some truly exceptional Calvados from artisanal producers like Claque-Pépin who focus on organic farming, to the historic Comte Louis de Lauriston Calvados from the Domfrontais, and Chauffe Coeur traditional Calvados.

Discover our family of producers below.

Logo of Claque-Pépin Cidrerie featuring an apple design.
Text displaying "Chauffe-Coeur Calvados Appellation Calvados Controlee."
Comte Louis de Lauriston logo with vintage design, featuring decorative elements and text "Domfront-Calvados-France."

Introduction to Calvados

Map of Calvados appellation areas in Normandy, France, including regions Calvados, Pays d'Auge, and Domfrontais. The map shows various cities such as Cherbourg, Caen, and Lisieux, with color codes for different AOC status areas.

Calvados is an apple (and pear) brandy produced in Normandy, on the Channel Northwest of Paris. Distillation in Normandy dates back to the 1500s. The first ref­er­ences to “Calvados,” date back to the 1880s and are found in the fic­tion and novels of Flaubert, Zola and Maupassant.

Calvados was awarded an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée in 1984. Today, the production of Calvados is overseen by IDAC (inter­pro­fes­sion­al asso­ci­ation of cider-based con­trolled appel­la­tions).

Fruit: Fruit : sweet, bitter-sweet, acidic apples for Pays d’Auge; pears are also sometimes used, especially in Domfrontais

Appellation and soil: There are three official areas of appellation: Calvados Pays d'Auge, Calvados, and Calvados Domfrontais.

The soil in the Pays d'Auge is clayish, while elsewhere it comprises more granite soils. 

Appellation & Soil

Production by the numbers:

  • 300 Calvados producers (2023)

  • 3 million trees

  • Five centuries of production (since 1553)

See more stats at Drink Calvados.

Cider & Distillation

Copper pot stills and distillation equipment in a distillery, featuring brick bases and exposed piping, under a wooden ceiling.

The apples are pressed and the juice is left to ferment in stainless steel tanks, becoming cider. Pears may also be used in Calvados production, particularly in the Domfrontais.

Cider Production

After 6 weeks minimum – some producers age their cider quite longer – the cider is distilled.

Calvados is double distilled in a Charentais still for the Pays d'Auge appellation.

For all the other appellations, single distillation is a column still is mandated.

Double Distillation

Aging

Mostly Limousin oak is used, however, some producers experiment with other woods, such as sherry casks. The spirit is then put into the wood for aging and will later on be blended and reduced to about 40%. 

Legal aging in wood is as follows:

VS, XXX: 2 years minimum
Vieux, Reserve: 3 years minimum
VO, VSOP: 4 years minimum
Extra, XO, Hors d'Age, Napoleon, Age Inconnu: 6 years minimum

Legal Aging

Calvados flavor wheel with sections and labels in French, displaying categories like fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers, and culinary notes, arranged in colorful radial segments.