Archive for August, 2012
August 31, 2012 · Filed under Cider/Perry Reviews · Tagged Cider Review, Sweet Cider, Wrexham Cider
Vital Stats:
Producer: Rosie’s Triple D
Cider Name: Black Bart
Region: Wrexham
ABV: 7.2%
Taste: Sweet
Served: Chilled 500ml bottle
Smell: Apples/Ethanol/Rum/Oaky
Colour: Golden/Yellow
Clarity: Clear
Carbonation: Lightly sparkling
Review/Tasting Notes:
Purchased From: International Craft Cider Festival
Date: 31/08/12
This is yet another one I found from last year and this time it’s one from the guys at Rosie’s Triple D. The Black Bart was apparently a Welsh pirate working out of Barbados, which they found named on a stone in their cider barn. So they are trying to recreate a bit of that history by using a rum barrel from Barbados to mature their Welsh cider in. The label on the bottle does look pretty damn good. Being a Bristol Rovers fan I’m using to loving pirates!
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August 31, 2012 · Filed under Cider/Perry Reviews · Tagged Cider Review, Herefordshire Cider, Medium Cider
Vital Stats:
Producer: Lyne Down
Cider Name: Roaring Meg (Medium)
Region: Herefordshire
ABV: 5.2%
Taste: Medium
Served: Chilled 500ml bottle
Smell: Apples
Colour: Golden/Amber
Clarity: Clear
Carbonation: Sparkling
Review/Tasting Notes:
Purchased From: Lyne Down
Date: 31/08/12
Having been on a cider making day there last year, I have seen and actually done what they do on their farm to make their cider at Lyne Down. The Roaring Meg is their blended cider, which is incidentally named after a canon used during the English civil war. Learning about cider producers and their ciders can actually be pretty educational. Now if they only taught us history in school with the aid of cider, I think there would be a lot less bunking off lessons going on!
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August 30, 2012 · Filed under Cider/Perry Reviews · Tagged Cider Review, Herefordshire Cider, Medium/Dry Cider
Vital Stats:
Producer: Oliver’s
Cider Name: Shezam
Region: Herefordshire
ABV: 6%
Taste: Medium/Dry
Served: Chilled 500ml bottle
Smell: Apples/Farmhouse/Ethanol
Colour: Golden
Clarity: Clear
Carbonation: Slightly sparkling
Review/Tasting Notes:
Purchased From: Bristol Cider Shop
Date: 30/08/12
It’s been a while since I have had an Oliver’s cider and surprisingly the first I have tried from a bottle. I usually only come across the bag-in-boxes at festivals and not in the bottle form.
One thing I notice from the bottle is the honest labelling and they not trying to kid you. It’s made up of cider apple juice, water and sugar. It also notes it has been carbonated and pasteurised. So no real speculating with this one, it’s all clear black and white what it is.
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August 29, 2012 · Filed under Cider/Perry Reviews · Tagged Cider Review, Medium Cider, Monmouthshire Cider, Single Variety Cider
Vital Stats:
Producer: Ty Gwyn
Cider Name: Dabinett Medium (2011) (SV)
Region: Monmouthshire
ABV: 6.5%
Taste: Medium
Served: Chilled 500ml bottle
Smell: Sweet apple/Rhubard & custard
Colour: Golden
Clarity: Clear
Carbonation: Lightly sparkling
Review/Tasting Notes:
Purchased From: International Craft Cider Festival
Date: 29/08/12
I really am cleaning out my cider closet now from last year and next on the list is a Ty Gwyn Dabinett Medium from 2011. Tw Gwyn apparently is Welsh for the White House, which is where they make their cider and of course nothing to do with where the American President is. Though I reckon a cider apple tree could well have run their country better than they have! Ty Gwyn are based in the Monnow Valley, which has other famous things such as Henry V birthplace, Rolls Royce and Bohemian Rhapsody hailing from there. Here was me thinking Wales didn’t have much except sheep and rugby there….how wrong could I be eh?!?! 😉
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August 29, 2012 · Filed under Cider/Perry Reviews · Tagged Cider Review, Gloucestershire Cider, Medium/Dry Cider
Vital Stats:
Producer: McCrindle’s
Cider Name: Vintage Cider (2009)
Region: Gloucestershire
ABV: 6.5%
Taste: Medium/Dry
Served: Chilled 500ml bottle
Smell: Sweet apples/Farmhouse
Colour: Golden/Amber
Clarity: Clear
Carbonation: Lightly sparkling
Review/Tasting Notes:
Purchased From: Bristol Cider Shop
Date: 29/08/12
Another cider I have recently found while rummaging through my cider collection is a 2009 Vintage bottle of McCrindles Cider. I’ve seen and tasted that they make an amazing perry (being so close to the Blakeney, it would be rude for them not to!), but I have yet to explore their cider until now. From the looks of the bottle this was a small batch cider, which happens to have the batch number L0712. It also notes the cider apples are from a single years harvest and then matured.
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