jbcarioca - my hero - and a true understanding of armagnac. And a man with a cellar ... but no map was provided?!
Important stuff. Are there stairs? I'm OK going down ... but sometimes coming back up sometime later isn't as safe. I keep my grappa alongside all the other stuff IN THE WINE FRIDGE.
Someone else has just mentioned calvados .........
I am blushing! Ah, Calvados. My spouse is a Calvados fan, as am I. We have a decent collection of that also. Most of ours came from a small shop in Mougins that was established by Roger Vergé
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulin_de_Mougins
He, with an assistant named Alain Ducasse taught both of us most of what we know about food and drink. I had never heard of Calvados or Armagnac in 1978 when they began to teach us. Like the great chefs they are there was never a bit of condescension as they taught us things anybody should already have known. I admire them both immensely for their talent and dedication as well as their humanity.
Oh, but the subject was to be Calvados. My favorite today is a bottle of 1948 Camut that we acquired for my spouses birthday, one of two such that we bought from Mr. Vergé's shop. The remaining one is delectable.
Calvados is to Applejack as a Mercedes Benz SLS AMG is to a Hyundai Accent.
My favorite Calvados reference is this one:
http://www.calvadosbook.com/index.php