Calvados is Normandy's apple brandy — cider apples fermented, distilled and aged in oak — and the clearest way to understand it is by age: a 2-to-3-year Fine tastes of fresh orchard fruit, while a 20-year-old tastes of toffee, baked apple and spice. At Del Mesa Liquor, a family-owned liquor store in San Diego, California, the Calvados shelf runs that whole ladder in six bottles, from G.E. Massenez Calvados Vieux at $59.99 to a cask-strength single cask at $349.99 — every bottle below is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor.
What Calvados Is — and Why Pays d'Auge Matters
Calvados starts as cider, not wine, which separates it from its grape-brandy cousins in our brandy collection and the Cognac shelf. The Pays d'Auge is its fine-wine district: the appellation requires apples grown in the area and double distillation in copper pot stills. Chateau du Breuil, a 16th-century chateau in Le Breuil-en-Auge with 42 hectares of orchards and about 22,000 apple trees, anchors this guide — four of the six bottles are theirs, so you can taste one estate at four ages. For the grape side of French brandy, see our Cognac guide and Armagnac and aged brandy guide on the Del Mesa blog.
The Bottles, Young to Old
- G.E. Massenez Calvados Vieux — $59.99: 40% ABV, aged a minimum of three years in old oak under the Vieux designation. Baked apple, apple-cinnamon, clove and caramel, famous for the Pomme Prisonniere presentation — a whole apple grown inside the bottle — and a Gold Medal winner at the Concours Agricole Paris 2019. The gift bottle and the starting point.
- Chateau du Breuil Fine Calvados — $65.99: 40% ABV, Pays d'Auge, aged 2 to 3 years in oak. Baked apple, orange zest, caramel and honeyed butterscotch with youthful freshness. Gold at both the IWSC and the World Calvados Awards in 2020 — the brightest, most fruit-forward pour here.
- Chateau du Breuil VSOP Calvados — $84.99: 40% ABV, a minimum of four years in French oak. Ripe apple, fresh almond, citrus, quince and milk caramel with a long, spicy finish. The classic VSOP balance of fruit and oak, and the best all-round digestif value.
- Chateau du Breuil 15 Year Calvados — $159.99: 41% ABV, a minimum of 15 years in French oak. Rich and voluptuous, with a fragrant apple bouquet and the gentle tannin of mature spirit. It scored Gold, 99 out of 100 and "Outstanding" at the IWSC in 2020 — the only French spirit to reach that mark that year.
- Chateau du Breuil 20 Year Old Calvados — $199.99: 41% ABV, the estate's Reserve des Seigneurs, blended from stocks aged 20 to 25 years. Rich toffee and caramel over juicy apple, golden syrup, vanilla and light marzipan. Gold at the World Calvados Awards 2023.
- Domaine du Tertre Single Cask 15 Year Old Calvados 2006 — $349.99: 56% ABV at cask strength, one French oak cask of 2006 distillate aged 15 years, bottled with no additives. The domaine farms more than 45 acres of orchards — certified organic since 2017 — planted to some 40 apple varieties. Soft, rich, and full of baking spice, intense earth and cooked apple fruit. The collector's bottle, and the top of our Rare & Top Shelf collection.
How to Enjoy Calvados
Serve the younger bottles — the Massenez Vieux and the Breuil Fine — neat as an aperitif or digestif, or in the Norman tradition of le trou normand, a small pour between courses. The VSOP is the cocktail bottle: try a Calvados Old Fashioned. Save the 15 Year, the 20 Year Old and the cask-strength Tertre for a tulip glass after dinner, neat, with time — a few drops of water loosen the Tertre's cask-strength frame without thinning its fruit. All six pair naturally with apple desserts, aged cheese and holiday baking, which makes the ladder a strong seasonal gift run as well as a tasting. Shipping details are on our shipping and return policy page, and common ordering questions are answered on our FAQ page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Calvados?
Calvados is an apple brandy from Normandy, France. Cider apples are fermented into cider, distilled, and aged in oak. Pays d'Auge is its premium appellation, requiring apples grown in the area and double distillation in copper pot stills.
What do Fine, VSOP and age statements mean on Calvados?
Fine is the youngest grade, aged about 2 to 3 years. VSOP means the youngest spirit in the blend is at least 4 years old. Age-stated bottles go further: the Chateau du Breuil 15 Year is aged a minimum of 15 years, and its 20 Year Old is blended from stocks aged 20 to 25 years.
What is the difference between Calvados and applejack?
They are cousins, not the same spirit. Calvados is the AOC-protected French apple brandy from Normandy, made under appellation rules for orchards, distillation and aging. Applejack is the American apple brandy tradition, made under different rules and usually with a different, often grain-blended, profile.
Where can I buy Calvados online?
You can order Calvados online at Del Mesa Liquor, a family-owned store in San Diego, California. Del Mesa stocks six bottles from $59.99 to $349.99, including Chateau du Breuil Fine, VSOP, 15 Year and 20 Year Old, G.E. Massenez Calvados Vieux, and a cask-strength Domaine du Tertre single cask.
From a $59.99 prisoner-apple gift bottle to a 99-point 15-year-old and a cask-strength vintage single cask, Normandy's apple brandy rewards the climb — order any of these bottles online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, California.