BUSNEL Calvados Pays d'Auge V.S.O.P.

Nose interesting, taste rather ordinary.

I am a pretty big fan of Laird's bottle in bond apple brandy, but I have only had two different calvados' and this was my first one. I mainly got this for cocktails and I may be comparing it to Lairds which is affecting its score but I'm not the biggest fan. The nose is pretty uninteresting, with pear and apple, but the ethanol is a touch strong for 80 proof (letting it sit for a bit does tone down the heat). On the palate the apple leads the charge, followed by pumpkin, oak and spice. The finish is pretty smooth with a light burn. The apple still hangs on through the finish. If it wasnt for the nose and predictable palate, I would probably knock this up a notch, but its nowhere near as good as Lairds. It's a solid calvados (at least from my less than experienced calvados palate) but it's all pretty standard fair which makes it a decent cocktail mixer but an average sipper. I may need to try different brands of calvados to get a better picture but I just dont see the appeal of this bottle of calvados.