It’s sunny enough and and getting warmer each day, that I’m worrying about keeping my seedlings and house plants from getting scorched in the sunroom. I am amazed yet again by how quickly the seasonal shift can come.
One day, I’m still reaching for thick fluffy socks and hiding from the blustery winds and not long after I’m wearing shades and shedding layers. The surprises are energizing! And this week, I wanted to relish a memory from last summer’s trip to Angry Orchard’s R&D facility in Walden, New York. That means finally opening up my Angry Orchard's Margil.
Over the ten years of this blog, I’ve reviewed many offerings from Angry Orchard, including several from the Walden location. Here is an incomplete list.
Buddy King: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2022/11/cider-review-angry-orchards-buddy-king.html
Supernatural: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/03/cider-review-angry-orchard-super.html
Newtown Pippin: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2022/08/cider-review-angry-orchards-newtown.html
Baldwin: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2022/05/cider-review-angry-orchards-baldwin.html
Understood in Motion 2: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2020/02/cider-review-critz-farms-double-vision.html
Understood in Motion 3: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/08/cider-review-angry-orchard-ciders.html
Wooden Sleeper: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/12/cider-review-angry-orchards-wooden.html
Spiced Apple: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/03/cider-review-angry-orchards-spiced-apple.html
Pear: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/05/very-perry-may-review-of-greenwood.html
Rosé: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/03/cider-review-angry-orchard-rose-and.html
Walden: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/09/cider-review-angry-orchards-walden.html
And if you want more, just click on the Angry Orchard Tag on any of these posts, and you can find the rest.
I recommend visiting the Angry Orchard site to see the ciders and check out what’s happening at The Treehouse in Walden, New York: https://www.angryorchard.com/.
Here’s how the Margil is described on the Angry Orchard website.
This single varietal cider features only the Margil apple. With no added sugar, it is a bright off-dry offering with notes of pear and apple skin aromatics. 6.4% ABV.
And from the label itself, “An apple with mysterious origins dating back to 18th century England (or maybe France), the Margil has biome a favorite of ours in Walden for its texture and aroma. With no added sugar, this off-dry cider is bright, fresh, and gives lively pear and apple skin aromatics.”
And now for my tasting notes on Angry Orchard’s Margil Cider.
Appearance: brilliant, medium intense color, pale straw
This cider has gorgeous shining brilliant and a pale straw color. I can see a few bubbles at the ring of the glass.
Aromas: Stone, cotton, apple skin, vanilla
The Margil smells first of stone and cotton. Secondarily I get notes of cleanly-fermented fruit. It’s so different from most Angry Orchard ciders. It doesn’t smell like unfermented sweet fruits. I do get the impression of tart apple skin.
Sweetness/dryness: Off-dry
It’s interesting to isolate the sweetness in this cider. It doesn’t taste particularly sweet, but it must have some sweetness to round out the other elements that it has in such plentiful quantities without becoming severe. Read on to find out more.
Flavors and tasting experience: Very high tannins, medium-high acids, bright fruit notes, tiny bubbles
The Margil tastes sophisticated yet playful. The cider is lightly sparkling with fine bubbles and very high tannins, but they give way to bright fruitiness. The acidity feels medium-high with lots of citrus notes. The tannins keep coming back to make their presence known with every sip. Gosh, I like this!
There are hints of sweetness, but the cider is decidedly not sugary. What’s there feels like a neat deep sweetness from the apple’s essence itself and not the residual sugars. The Margil is wonderfully textural and evocative. This delightful cider makes me think of ripe oranges, vanilla, and pears with tropical fruit notes on the finish.
We had our bottle of Margil with a five-cheese pesto pizza and kale salad. The combination was wonderful because the cider helped me remain awake to the delightful contrasting textures of a soft pillowy crust, sharp curly kale leaves, and the melty cheeses. This has to be one of the tastiest ciders I've ever had from the crew at Angry Orchard. Delicious!
