Family-owned Calvados producer Christian Drouin has launched the sixth instalment of its Expérimental range: Caroni Angels. Aimed at both calvados and rum lovers, the new limited-edition is exclusively distributed in the UK by Speciality Brands.
For this edition, Guillaume Drouin sourced from Luca Gargano six barrels of Caroni which previously housed the highly coveted Caroni 1996 rum. Caroni Angels is a 17-year-old Calvados Pays d’Auge aged for eight months in barrels in the Daniel Flambard cellar in Pont L’Evêque.
Bottled at 48.8% ABV, Caroni Angels takes on the rum’s rich, oily, leather notes on the nose, along with roasted apple and dried apricot. The palate retains the liveliness and freshness of Calvados, with smoky, baked apple notes on the finish.
“Calvados has been a category on the rise recently as consumers beyond France have started to rediscover its elegance, complexity and approachable, versatile profile. Christian Drouin is one of the brands leading the charge, seizing its growth potential, and offering drinkers something new and unexpected. Expérimental Caroni Angels shows it’s more than a match for this legendary, distinctive rum and the collaboration of two historic names will make this a very popular release,” says Chris Seale, Managing Director, Speciality Brands.
Guillaume Drouin, President of Christian Drouin, says; “We had to find a Calvados that was powerful and structured enough to support the aromatics of the Caroni casks. I usually push the reductions of our Calvados quite far to find the best degrees of balance, but for this Caroni Angels it seemed clear that the chosen Calvados needed to be maintained at a higher degree. After maturing for eight months in casks, we reached the ideal balance and Caroni Angels was bottled at 48.8%.vol.”
Only 1,506 bottles are available globally and the limited-edition will be available in the UK at selected retail and on-trade outlets.
Expérimental by Christian Drouin Caroni Angels, 48.8% ABV – 70 cl – RRP £105
