Lauren Cazottes Eau de Vie, Goutte de Poire Williams Passerille

Every once in a while something comes along that knocks your socks off.  As pretty much the world’s premier fruit distiller (though Clear Creek in Portland is up there too), Cazottes has created what is accepted as the greatest Poire William available.  Produced from fully ripened fruit without any pit/seeds/stalks – the purity and refinement of aroma and taste is just incredible.

Laurent Cazottes is the proprietor of an interesting and unique enterprise centred around a distillery, one of only four permitted in the Tarn, France. The resultant spirits (eau-de-vie) and liqueurs are produced from organically grown fruit supplied by locals either for their own consumption, or, bottled by the family Cazottes for retail sale and distribution. The result is a variety of brilliant eau-de-vie such as apple, pear, plum and also a few rare and wonderful liqueurs.

I drink it in a grappa glass I keep in the freezer after dinner.  Simple pleasures make for a sublime life.