Best Calvados Selections Under $50

This is the 4 year old VSOP from Calvados mainstay Pere Magloire. Here the fruit is all from the grand cru Pays d'Auge and distilled twice on column stills before a slumber in oak. The Magloire name has long been associated with the region, and can boast being the most successful brand in 1900.

This Calvados is made from 80% bittersweet apples and 20% acidic apples that are harvested between September and November. The Vielle Reserve is doubled-distilled 6 months after fermentation and is aged for a minimum of 4 years in toasted 88-gallon barrels, 25% of which are new.

Manoir de Montreuil is a collaboration between legendary importer Charles Neal and veteran calvados producer Patrice Giard. The project uses apples from Giard's beautiful, cow-filled orchards in the Pays d'Auge which are distilled twice using a traditional Alembic still. Older varieties of apples are favored because of their complexity despite the fact that they don't produce as much juice -- it's truly a labor of love. The Montreuil label represents a more fruit-forward style than Giard's classic line. Charles blends a spirit with bright orchard tones that sit very nicely in a cocktail, but the calvados has enough finesse to enjoy on its own.

Roger Groult distills Calvados in the Pays d'Auge region of France, in Saint-Cyr-du-Ronceray. The cider base is comprised entirely of apples and aged for one year prior to distillation in copper pot-stills. After two distillations, it is aged in old Limousin oak barrels for a minimum of three years, with some older Calvados blended in as well.

For his entry-level calvados, Drouin chooses apples and pears from the Domfront region, and single-column distillation (as opposed to the double-distillation in a pot still used for his other spirits) to create a lighter, earlier-maturing spirit. This young calvados is intended as an aperitif or to be used in cocktails.

This Calvados from the Pays d'Auge is produced in Le Breuil-en-Auge, in Lower Normandy. As is required of this region, the Calvados is double-distilled in copper pot stills. It is aged in French oak at the Château for at least 8 years.

Berneroy Calvados allows the freshly pressed apple juice to spontaneously ferment using only the ‘wild’ yeasts present on the apple skins. The cider is fermented over a period of about four weeks to complete dryness. The dry cider is distilled only once using an antique copper-column still. The single distillation results in a highly fruity and aromatic spirit and differs from the nearby AOC Calvados Pays d’Auge and AOC Calvados Domfrontais regions. It is aged exclusively in older, ‘seasoned’ (aka used) barrels for a minimum of 4 years for the VSOP as required by law. The Berneroy Master Blender then combines the barrels of various ages and characteristics to create the house style.