This second cognalternative is a single cask calvados unearthed by the young IB Swell de Spirits in Garnier’s cellars. It’s an 18yo calvados (100% apple) that has been aged in a very wet cellar (sometimes there are a few centimeters of water surrounding the casks during wintertime) and bottled at cask strength (55,1%).
Colour: Hay, light gold lights. Heavy irregular tears. Quite a pale color for a 18yo spirit.
Nose: Creamy nose at first. Something between apricot yogurt and cheesecake. Obvious calvados DNA with cider apple but a distinct finesse that I didn’t find in the Cadenhead’s Dupont or the Christian Drouin for example. A briny touch on olive oil and salted water. Surprisingly not aggressive and quite smooth regarding the ABV. Ample lingering apple tart notes underlined by delicate vanilla and cinnamon scents. Hints of banana stew in the background.
Mouth: Sweet texture with a tad of acidity. Honeyed notes are counterbalanced by rustic notes of farm cider and roasted hazelnut shell notes. Great mouth length on vanilla cream and various citruses syrup, mainly lime and yuzu (earthy notes). Slightly smoked. This mouth length could be something close to a Clynelish mix of wax and citruses but with a little astringence on fresh paint (never tasted it, just to reassure you, but I guess it tastes something like that).
Last Notes: You get more oaky shades now. Varnished wood, linseed oil, and a tad of beeswax. Still some light fruity notes on apricot marmalade and tinned vine peaches. Dusty scents of dry walnut and prunes liquor. Back on the palate, you get a distinct sweetness on the vanilla entremet. Tea-ish shades, something between earl grey and rooibos. Spicy aftertaste on heavy cardamom notes and white pepper. Balsamic and light umami aromas in the background. A tad more on pastry notes with spicy tones when you add a little dilution.
Well, what a nice surprise! You can feel that the aging in a wet cellar rounded this rustic apple monster. Not the easiest spirit to taste, not the most exuberant too, but a very satisfying level of complexity.