Maison Ferrand UK is bringing Calvados Christian Drouin, one of Normandy’s most celebrated family-owned Calvados houses, into its portfolio. The move adds a further category to the UK subsidiary’s collection, sitting alongside flagship brands Planteray Rum, Citadelle Gin, Ferrand Cognac, Canerock and Dry Curaçao, and partner brands including Koch Mezcal, Adriatico Amaretto, Boann Irish Whiskey and Orendain Tequila.

The partnership launches exclusively in the UK with Christian Drouin’s Experimental Planteray Clarendon Angels, the latest release in the house’s Experimental range following previous editions finished in Hampden, Chichibu, Arran and Long Pond rum casks. Planteray Clarendon Angels is a blend of 16-year-old Pays d’Auge Calvados matured for five months in five ex-Clarendon MLC (Monymusk Light Continental) casks from 2020 – rum casks prized for their high content of aromatic esters and exotic character. The Calvados is amber in colour, with aromas of dried apple and dried apricot mingling with hints of ripe banana and sugar cane on the nose, and a palate balancing praline, dried fruit and pepper.

Founded in the Pays d’Auge in the 60s, when Christian Drouin senior took over a cider-apple orchard at the Fiefs Sainte-Anne farm near Honfleur, Maison Drouin is now run by the third generation of the family, Christian and Guillaume Drouin. The house has won more than 300 gold medals and was named World’s Best Calvados in both 2017 and 2020, alongside Best European Spirit Producer at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2013 and Spirit of the Year 2019 from La Revue du Vin de France. Christian Drouin Calvados is exported to 65 countries.

Apples are harvested once fully ripe, gently pressed, and the resulting cider is naturally fermented for between five weeks and a year before double distillation in a traditional 2,500-litre Charentais pot still. Ageing takes place in small oak casks, many of them former Sherry, Port, Cognac and Bordeaux wine casks, with each blend and vintage following its own tailored ageing programme.

Darryl Cripps, managing director of Maison Ferrand UK, said: “There’s a real synergy between Drouin and the rest of our portfolio, being another family-run French producer with heritage, patience and serious craft at its heart. What began in 1960 with a single Pays d’Auge orchard is now a third-generation family business making world-class Calvados and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with them. From a versatile core range through to the remarkable Angels cask-finished editions and vintage Calvados, there’s something here for every bar, restaurant and cellar in the country.”

Guillaume Drouin, CEO of Christian Drouin Calvados, said: “We are very pleased to launch this partnership with Maison Ferrand in the UK, with whom we share a passion for fine spirits, a commitment to craftsmanship, and a long-term perspective. We are confident that Maison Ferrand will help Christian Drouin Calvados increase its market penetration in the UK—one of the most dynamic markets for calvados—through cocktail bars, restaurants, and wine shops.”