1998 "Spirits from the Source" Selection

Appellation: Calvados Domfrontais
Fruit: 70% Heirloom Pear, 30% Heirloom Apple
Distilled in: 1998
Aged: in large oak foudres in a humid cellar
ABV: 58%
Bottled: May 2025
Number of bottles released: 102

The 1998 is a powerhouse in its middle-age stride.  It takes you for a contemplative walk through a mixed-fruit orchard with notes of bright citrus peel, peaches, wood and floral apple/pear blossoms which transitions through the palate with honeyed pear and apple with hints of pancake batter and vanilla cream. 

More about Lemorton: Didier Lemorton and his wife Martine make the finest single-distilled brandies in all of Normandy —exquisite, nectar-of-the-gods Calvados that are clean, deep with tons of soul. They use a majority of pear, rather than apple, which lends a beautiful complexity to the final spirit and never reduce their spirits during aging, a true rarity in the region.

Everything we’ve tasted in their cellar, from the new-make to the 50-year old plus stock, is fruit loaded, complex and palate-coating. These are the first-ever cask-strength selections bottled by the house!

A note on quantities: As with each vintage from Lemorton, were only able to bottle a very limited run of these (though we are trying to bottle more). In the interim, only 2 bottles per person, please.