Christian Drouin 13 years of age Arran Angels - Calvados Pays d'Auge

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 46.9% | Chill filtration: Not specified | Colouring: No

Special Features:

Christian Drouin Arran Angels is a 13-year-old Calvados Pays d'Auge and the ninth release in the Experimental series. Six old French oak casks that had previously held whisky from Arran Distillery were selected for its six-month finish. It was bottled in 2024 at 46.9%, with a limited release of 1,992 bottles.

The casks have followed an unusual journey: originally supplied by Drouin, they spent more than 17 years maturing whisky at Arran before returning to the cellars in Normandy. Their use for Arran Angels continues a cask exchange between the two houses spanning almost twenty years.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose is delicate, with apple notes ranging from ripe apples to apples fried in butter. Malt, apricot and pear then unfold.
• Palate: On the palate, the Calvados is delicate and balanced, with its roundness matched by acidity.
• Finish: Hazelnut and cereal notes linger on the finish.

Distillery/Bottler:

The house of Christian Drouin has its roots at the Fiefs Sainte-Anne estate near Honfleur, which Christian Drouin senior acquired in 1960. Together with distiller Pierre Pivet, he distilled cider made from the estate's apples, initially building up stocks of maturing Calvados. Sales began in 1979. When the business needed more space, production moved in 1991–1992 to a 17th-century farm in Coudray-Rabut near Pont-l'Évêque.

The house's approach combines the processing of cider apples with carefully managed cask maturation. After crushing, the apples are left for several hours before pressing; this helps extract softer, less bitter tannins. The cider is distilled twice, with heads and tails separated on each occasion and the cut points adjusted to its characteristics. For maturation, Drouin often uses previously used oak casks to limit the uptake of bitter wood tannins.

Guillaume Drouin joined the family business in 2004 as the third generation and took over its management in 2013. Each year, he and his father Christian taste the contents of every cask and decide how they will be used. Arran Angels is an official bottling from Christian Drouin; Arran Distillery supplied the former whisky casks for the finish.

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