The history of Christian Drouin's Calvados
The history of Christian Drouin's Calvados began in 1960, when Christian Drouin Senior from Rouen bought the farm of Sainte-Anne in the Pays d'Âuge, in order to produce Calvados of the highest quality. This ambitious enterprise worked well, partly because he employed Pierre Pivet, at that time probably the most famous distiller of eau-de-vie de cidre, cider brandy. Since 1969, Christian Drouin Junior also works in the family business – and although part of the company was auctioned off to shareholders in 1989, it remains a family company since the majority is still owned by family members.
Christian Drouin
Since 2004, the agrarian engineer and enologist Guillaume Drouin leads the company in its third generation as a family business.
Inspired by his success, Christian Junior bought an old horse stable in 1990, a cute hand-crafted structure from the 17th century, in order to establish a distillery there. The location now carries the prestige-inducing name “Coeur de Lion”, the lion's heart. Otherwise, he's planted a fruit plantation, in order to eventually become independent of other fruit farmers. Notwithstanding these developments within his own company, the family is actively engaged with the cellar-collective Le Verger Normand (see the history of Calvados). Under Guillaum's direction, products with the label Comte Louis de Lauriston are produced, to which CHRISTIAN DROUIN S.A. holds the rights.
The Drouin Distillery today
The Drouins are interested in quality, not quantity: for this reason, the new plantation has been organized in the traditional manner, with only traditional plant sorts planted, which develop high-stemmed trees. They produce relatively little crop, but of a very special quality. The fruit mash is only pressed once, in order to only extract the best. After distillation, the distillate is aged in different sized casks of various ages, even including a few sherry and port wine casks – the distillate is filled on average once per year. That means, the casks are chosen with the goal of letting the Calvados develop under optimal conditions. That's how the Haus Drouin managed to receive countless medals and honorable prizes, including amongst them the award of best Calvados cellarer.
In Christian Drouin's wide assortment of Calvados you'll find a whole palate of unparalleled Millésimes, or pure-vintage Calvados, that maintain their own individual characters. But don't ignore the Assemblages of the house, which have been mixed from up to 20 different years of distilled cider, which also belong to the best of what Calvados has to offer....Read moreRead less
