Since it was a cold and rainy night in Los Angeles, I decided to finally crack my bottle of Emmanuel Camut Ambrosia and sit by a warm fire (or television) while sipping what is, without a doubt, one of the most unique and flavorful liqueurs to hit the market in years.

If you know my feelings about Adrien Camut Calvados, then you know that I think it’s perhaps the greatest spirit in the world. Emmanuel Camut, however, has been thinking beyond the legacy of his grandfather and towards a broader and more experimental future—one that involves food and other speciality items. That’s why you’ll now find two products at Mission that bear his name specifically, rather than the founding patriarch of the estate: his new Ambrosia and his outstanding, world-class vinegar.

Let’s start with the Ambrosia.

Technically not a pommeau because it doesn’t adhere to the guidelines (although I’ve labeled it as such to give customers some semblance of what it is), Emmanuel takes sweet apple must and blends it with Calvados much like you would expect, but it’s not just any old apple must. In order to concentrate the Ambrosia, he cooks down the must in batches, over and over again, until it’s so thick and packed with rich apple flavor that it’s almost too much! He then blends it with Camut Calvados and barrel ages the elixir for extra richness.

Rather than a sweet and fruity pommeau or a delightful Norman aperitif. the result is much more like a Pedro Ximenez Sherry or aged Madeira. It’s dark in the glass, thick on the palate, and the aromas are ungodly. On the palate, the Ambrosia is incredibly rich, while simultaneously tangy from the balanced acidity. When I say that Emmanuel “batch cooked” the apple must, I mean he obsessively and maniacally experimented like a mad scientist until he achieved perfection. I know this because it’s the same process he adhered to for his vinaigre balsalmique de cidre.

There was a period of time when Camut wasn’t able to produce Calvados due to a number of complications at the estate, and during that time Emmanuel Camut needed a distraction. Balsamic vinegar became his new obsession, and concentrated apple must down to its most potent and syrupy-thick essence was his end all, be all. Using two wood-fired 200 liter copper pots, Emmanuel’s apple must process reaches three times the normal concentration of Italian grape must for traditional balsamic.

Next comes a long decanting period (done during winter) where he tosses out about 15-20% of the production to keep the must as clear and clean as possible. During the spring, the must is transferred into barrels during which a slow acetic fermentation process begins, converting the sugars into a very light alcohol. From that point, the vinegar is aged for more than a decade, during which it loses roughly 10% of its volume each year from evaporation.

With each year that passes, Emmanuel moves the liquid into smaller and smaller barrels, made of different woods like chestnut and acacia, some so small that you could hold them comfortably with one hand! It’s like a Russian doll solera system, where by the end the barrels are so tiny you can barely comprehend how he got the vinegar in there! As you might expect, the bottles are not cheap at $29.99 for a 100ml, but you don’t need much when you use it. Just the tiniest bit of Camut vinegar will add insane flavor to your dish. Quite literally, it’s worth every drop.

To give you an idea of how good the vinegar is, I’ll tell you a quick story. This is Alain Passard, the master behind one of the world’s great restaurants—L’Arpege in Paris—and one of the featured chefs on Netflix’s acclaimed Chef’s Table series. I had done an interview with Alain for my old K&L blog after taking my wife to his all-vegetarian, three Michelin-starred eatery for our anniversary, and I had kept in touch afterward having booked a number of friends for future visits.

On the way back from a trip to Camut—the visit where Emmanuel had finally unveiled the final product—I had to overnight in Paris before flying home. I decided the bottle of vinegar that Emmanuel had gifted me could be a lot more powerful in the hands of a world-famous chef than in mine. So I decided to walk over to L’Arpege and give the bottle to Alain, seeing what he might think of the vinegar. Unfortunately, Alain was out that day, so I asked if I could leave the bottle in his office. I wrote him a quick note, gave him the best gist I could scribble out in my amateur French, and left the bottle on his desk.

I never heard back from Alain. But two months later, Emmanuel sent me an email, explaining that he had just received his first order for the vinegar. It was from L’Arpege in Paris and he was asking if I had anything to do with it.

If one of the best chefs in the world is using Camut vinegar in his restaurant, I’ll take that as validation of its quality.

-David Driscoll