Christian Drouin Calvados
In a Normandy left in ruins after the Second World War, a man named Christian Drouin had a vision of making the world's finest calvados. Today, three generations later, you can taste that vision across a range of bottlings that has collected over 300 gold medals. |
About Christian Drouin Calvados
Christian Drouin has become one of the Pays d'Auge's most respected calvados houses, run by a family that takes apple brandy just as seriously as a Burgundy winemaker treats pinot noir. The house grows its own apples and pears on traditional tall-stemmed trees across the region's characteristic bocage landscape, and the sheer breadth of the range - from young, fresh calvados to vintage bottles dating back to 1939 - makes Drouin a house that welcomes beginners while giving collectors something serious to explore.
History & Background
Immediately after the war, Christian Drouin began travelling around Normandy buying up local wine farmers' stocks of calvados - a practice that formed the foundation of the house's collection of exceptional vintage calvados. In 1960 he changed strategy and decided to produce his own calvados from scratch, though it would take nearly two decades before stocks were built up enough for quality to be maintained consistently. Today it's the third generation, led by son Christian Drouin II, carrying the house forward, bottling vintages, blends, ciders and pommeau under the Coeur de Lion label.
Production & Style
The apples and pears are grown on the house's own tall-stemmed trees in the Pays d'Auge, where the damp, temperate climate gives fruit with a natural acidity essential to a well-balanced calvados. The cider is double-distilled on traditional alembic stills, and the spirit then matures in oak casks for years, gradually taking on colour and character from the wood. The house's pommeau, a blend of apple must and calvados, shows the same craft applied to a completely different, sweeter style.
Signature Style
Apple-forward, Round, Elegant
Ripe apple and a touch of pear meet warm vanilla and spice from the cask - a style that grows more complex and nutty the longer it matures.
Facts
| Producer | Christian Drouin |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Region | Pays d'Auge |
| Country | France |
| Owner | The Drouin family (3rd generation) |
| Official website | calvados-drouin.com |
| Apple varieties | Traditional Pays d'Auge apples (sweet, bitter, and sharp varieties) |
| Pronounced | krees-tyahn droo-AN |
Awards & Recognition
Christian Drouin Calvados has collected over 300 gold medals at international spirits competitions - a body of recognition that cements the house's position among the Pays d'Auge's finest producers.
For Collectors
The house's vintage calvados, with some years dating back as far as 1939, are sought after by collectors interested in apple brandy's equivalent of an old cognac or vintage port.
Did You Know?
Did you know Christian Drouin's very first move wasn't to distil himself, but to buy up other wine farmers' old calvados stocks? Some of the oldest bottles the house sells today come from spirit distilled decades before Drouin even started his own production site.