Boulard
The reputation of Maison Boulard finds its origins in the inspiration of a man, Pierre-Auguste Boulard who in 1825 founded his prestigious distillery in Pays d’Auge.
Following him, four generations were driven by the desire to take the famous apple brandy further. Beyond tradition, beyond Normandy territory, beyond classic consumption patterns, Boulard revisits Calvados to make it an exceptional ad subtle product.
Calvados Boulard and double distillation are intimately linked.
From its creation in 1825, the Maison stands as a precursor by adopting this method for all its calvados. Later, the Boulard family has campaigned for this method to be recognized and associated with an AOC (appellation d’origine contrôlée). This campaign yielded results in 1942 when the AOC Calvados Pays d’Auge was created.
Mastering both the arts of ageing and blending, Sylvain Pluchard harmonizes the countless aromatic hues his oak barrels hold to the Boulard taste. The talent of the Cellar Master doesn’t reside only in the art of ageing his eaux-de-vie. He also nurtures the ageing of late calvados and tempers the ageing of the hasty ones. He blends, tastes and monitors all of these precious essences to obtain the perfect harmony, signature of the Maison.
Following the distillation, the eaux-de-vie are poured in French oak barrels. The wood’s tannins will slowly blend with the fruity aromas of the calvados, giving it a subtle hue of gold and amber. This natural alchemy can last up to 40 years. All of the barrels are made of a blend of fine-grained and medium-grained staves, one of the Maison’s unique features. Depending on the final blend, an eau-de-vie can progressively pass through older barrels or in drier or wetter zones of our four Coquainvilliers cellars. During the whole process of aging, a percentage of the eaux-de-vie will evaporate from the barrels. This is what is known as the “Angels’ share”.
