Calvados Success

I haven't had much luck with cocktails made with Calvados. I'd read how good the real thing is (not the lesser apple brandies), and I was expecting to be blown away when I bought my first bottle. I wasn't. It isn't as toxic as applejack, but it didn't do anything for me, or the cocktails I made with it.

Tonight that changed. My calendar has a recipe for today calling for a base of Calvados, with cointreau, benedictine, and an ounce of lemon juice. When I was making it I thought, Boy, I bet this is going to be lemony.

It is but it isn't. I really liked it, maybe because the orange and benedictine and lemon mute the Calvados. I might use a little less lemon juice than the recipe calls for (the author of that calendar seems to like lemon in her drinks), but it it's the best one in a while.