Picked up this half bottle of calvados to make cocktails for a party, but figured I might as well sacrifice an ounce to review here, and then test out the cocktail I will be making for the party.
Smells of baked apples, pears, and a hint of boozy oak. The taste is oak and dry cider apples up front with, nowhere near as sweet as I had expected. This finish is warm and bitter, featuring notes of red apple skins, lots of oak, and subtle bitter botanicals underneath. Honestly, it tastes like a boozy cognac with just a hint of apple flavor, not really sweet at all, and permeated with toasted oak notes throughout. I have to admit the Boulard VSOP is much more palatable in my opinion.
The only cocktail I will be using this for is a modified Apple Jack, with a full ounce of apple cider, 1 ounce calvados plus half an ounce of Sour Apple Pucker to round out the apple flavor, and a cannabis tincture infused simple syrup I made. The result is sweet and tart with layers of apple flavors and just the slightest hint of cannabis on the nose and in the finish. Surprisingly potent, contains an estimated 20mg THC and 15.7%ABV