Hurdlemaker | Medium Dry | Dark golden yellow, clear, pretty flat to me Not much of a nose despite being vintage, slight smoke possibly on top of the gentle apple. The taste is well rounded mellow vintage, with a slight oaky taste, which is not a surprise as it's oak conditioned. Even though they don’t say whiskey casks, it somehow gives it a slight
whiskey tang to me. Only a slight tannic aftertaste, which is good for a dry cider. very nice I have to say. This would be a very good after dinner cider. You could easily drink a couple but has a flavour worth savouring with a nice cigar if you’re that way inclined... | ★★★★★ | 6.8% |
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General Pitt Rivers | Medium | Golden clear and lightly sparkling Lovely honey apple nose with a slight hint of hay Yes decent solid apple taste and is well balanced. Desert apples only so on the sweetish side of medium but not hugely. Quite a short slightly floral aftertaste but nice and refreshing. A decent little offering this one. Easy to drink and very refreshing. | ★★★★★ | 6% |
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Smuggler | Dry | As you can tell from the photo I was settling down to watch a Wales rugby international, which is probably why I don't have a tasting note for this one. I assume decent though as all the Cranbourne Chase ones were So proper tasting notes:
Golden, clear and sparkling. Decent fruity nose with a hint of light farmyard. some people call it damp wood and I can see that. Interesting. Good interesting. Big fresh fruity hit that dries almost immediately with a decent amount of tannin. The fresh apple pulp flavour has depth and survives on top of the tannin though and goes through to the fairly short but refreshing aftertaste. It is Dry with a tannin bite but not overly so and has a nice refreshing sparkle to it. I like it as I thought I did and it's well worth giving it a go. The richness in the flavour would make this go well with a cheese or not overly spiced food really. | ★★★★★ | 5% |
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Shepherdess | Medium Sweet | Light golden, almost straw yellow, clear and sparkling Fairly light sweet fruity nose. Not a huge amount of nose and slight amount of honeysuckle. Light pleasant desert apple flavour, but not much to it has to be said. No tannin and nice and refreshing in a medium sweet way, with a shortish aftertaste. Perfectly pleasant but nothing that is going to set the world alight it has to be said. Easy drinking if you like the medium sweets and I doubt it would be unpleasant for anyone | ★★★★★ | 4.5% |
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The Whitewigs | Sweet | Dark Golden, clear and slightly sparkling. That sweet smell of fermenting apples is prominent in this one. Slight acrid smokiness which is a bit strange. Taste though, no problem. Fairly unusual. You get a sugar sweetness but also a lot of tannic dryness in the background. Lots of rich jammy plummy fruit in there The carbonation makes the taste really tingle on the tongue. Nice long refreshing aftertaste with a bit of citrus in there. Not bad. Just on the right side of sweet and the carbonation lifts it a lot - I wonder what it would be like flat? The nose though is a little off putting for me but not the end of the world | ★★★★★ | 6% |
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Perry | Medium Dry | Green straw yellow, hazy and very sparkling Slightly tart pear drop nose Tart with a big Perry flavour. Lots of grab in the mouth but the tartness quickly mellows to a farmyard medium Perry. The fizz really makes the flavour tingle on the tongue. Nice long lingering aftertaste. Interesting and nice little perry. I don’t think you could drink a huge amount but that’s probably not the point. Perfect as a replacement for fizzy wine. | ★★★★★ | 6.8% |
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Dorsecco | Medium Sweet | Not yet reviewed, watch this space | | 4.6% |
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Petnat | Medium Dry | Not yet reviewed, watch this space | | 6.2% |
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