Cider Review: Blackbird Ciders' Orchardist's Reserve

So, one of my goals for Finger Lakes Craft Cider Week was to try as many of the unfamiliar cideries as I could. While I didn't make it out to all of the Cider Week events, I did what I could to try new things and this is my first review from that process. I got my hands on some Black Bird Cider Works' Orchardist's Reserve. But before I dive right into the cider, let's learn a bit about the folks who make it.

This is how Black Bird Cider Works introduces themselves on their website (which you can visit here http://blackbirdciders.com):

BlackBird Cider Works is proud to be Niagara County’s sole craft hard cider producer. Nestled on a beautiful farm overlooking Lake Ontario, we produce hard ciders made from apples grown in our own orchard. We boast a variety of ciders ranging from dry to sweet, including some made from certified organic apples. Our on-property tasting room is open seven days a week, offering samples of our current craft cider selection, as well as bottle sales. Stop by the cidery for a tasting, grab some BlackBird merchandise, and discover why we’re Western New York’s premier craft cider producer.

 Their exact location is Barker, New York and one of the really cool things about Black Bird Cider Works is that the cidery and orchard are all part of one location. Black Bird grows all of their own fruit, including both cider varieties of apples and organic apples. Both fairly rare situations and quite special.

I love that Black Bird Cider Works has a tasting room. Perhaps I've become partial over the months I've been involved with one, but there's really something wonderful to say about both seeing the premises for the beverage you are trying and about seeing how customers respond to your ciders.

Now onto Black Bird Cider Works' Orchardist's Reserve!

As I often do, I think it is useful to begin with the cidermaker's official description: "A Blend of six varieties of apples including New York State favorites like the Empire, Cortland & Jonagold apples. With an apple essence on the nose & a light refreshing taste, this cider has a clean finish." To me, this just gives me a good baseline for what to expect so that I approach the cider on its own terms.

Appearance: lots of color, no visible  bubbles, brilliant

This cider shows great color, a deep autumnal gold with hidden hints of green. As the photo shows, there are simply no visible bubbles or haze. It looks so unbubbly that there might not be any sparkle in this cider at all. We'll see.

Aromas: warmed apples, wood, booze

This smells immediately of warm overripe apples, yum. I can get notes of wood shavings, things that remind me of both beer and wine, so I guess I'm just smelling a more notable than usual booziness to the bouquet. Somehow the smell also makes me think of dusty hot slow afternoons in an attic or a barn. Perhaps thats more memory than smell though.

Sweetness/Dryness: Semi-sweet

I know the bottle tells me that this cider will be semi-dry, but I don't get that at all. Semi-sweet is my official recommendation even taking into account that my personal palate is calibrated with some real sensitivity to sweetness. 

Flavors and drinking experience: petillant, fruity, green, sweet finish

As the appearance suggested, this cider is just slightly petillant. In terms of flavor, what I notice most is the fruity mid-palate. At that moment, I can taste tangerines, cucumber, all kinds of summer fruit backed with hints of green ultrafresh bitterness. Pleasantly complex. Somehow this just tastes so much like summer. Perhaps it is the hits of lake water minerality. Or somehow the combination of tannins and a sweet powdered sugar finish. I'm not entirely sure. My only real critique has to be in mouthfeel. I prefer a crisper feel with real acid but the Orchardist's Reserve offers more of a soft giving mouthfeel, especially after the initial burst of texture and flavor.

As for pairing, I'd put this with one last summery salad. Even up here in upstate New York, I can still get really good bell peppers and greens. So, I'd chop up every fresh crisp vegetable in the house into a grand finale of a salad, add a good splash of lemon and feta dressing, then drink up this cider right with it.

Cider Review: Woodchuck's Private Reserve Barrel Select

Pardon the slightly noir photograph. I promise that Woodchuck's Private Reserve Barrel Select isn't particularly mysterious. I just haven't had many moments of sunshine for cider photos lately, so I had to shoot quickly. This is a perfectly approachable cider, nothing nefarious here.

Woodchuck gives us some fairly effusive copy about their cider: "Woodchuck Private Reserve Barrel Select is our ultra-limited cider crafted in small batches for a rare taste of sweet, crisp apple cider combined with smoky, dry bourbon flavors. Aged in genuine white oak Kentucky bourbon barrels, this copper-hued gem pairs excellently with cheese, pork roast and chocolate cake. Served best at 50 degrees, Barrel Select is truly an exclusive joy to relish."Drawing from that, let's just look at the information shared. This is aged in used bourbon barrels from Kentucky (Yay Kentucky!). They recommend pairing it with some fatty, sweet, intense flavors, so I'm guessing that this will be a very flavorful sweet cider. No mention of apple varieties. The ABV on this cider is 6.9% which does limit the places where it can be sold. Curse you, labyrinthine prohibition remnants haunting our alcohol laws!

Anyhow back to the cider at hand. Let's see how it looks.

Color and Appearance: Brilliant, almost no visible bubbles, orange

This cider is deeply and devotedly orange. You could call it copper or persimmon or even vaguely bourbon like, but it is a bold orange cider. Like most Woodchuck ciders, it has been filtered to complete brilliance.

Aromas: vanilla, cooked apples, whiskey, wood

Very dessert smelling. The apples are much more like my grandmother's stovetop cooked apples than anything more raw and natural. I also get some vanilla, caramel, almost butterscotch notes. Its all over the place so long as the place is sweet and candy related. More distantly I can also smell the wood and bourbon elements, but only through a fog of sugary food smells.

Sweetness: Too. Sweet.

This can be a recurring problem for barrel aged ciders and for Woodchuck's ciders. It doesn't always strike though. So for fans of sweet cider, this might be right up their respective alleys. It is however sweet even by those standards. The sweetness comes across with some of the same notes as the aroma but also with a maple flavor more than the caramel I smelled.

Flavors and Drinking Experience: Overwhelming on its own. Better with food.

I can taste some wood and some fruit but mostly dessert sweetness: maple, vanilla, caramel, booziness. I don't care for it as a sipping cider. However, when I sat down with some veggie chili and cornbread, that smoothed out the experience for me. Chili has a lot of strong vibrant roasty flavors and those pair well with Woodchuck's Barrel Select.

Socially, this is a great time for chili. We're all cold and stir-crazy. Maybe invite some folks over and try a whole bunch of new ciders along with a few different chili variations. This combo is not a bad one.

Cider Review: Thistly Cross Whisky Cask

Thistly Cross Cider crossed my path through my favorite local cider shop, but I'd been hearing about them for some time before. This is definitely my first Scottish cider. Check out their website that has tons of great information here: http://www.thistlycrosscider.co.uk/

I decided to review their Whisky-Cask Aged Cider before any of their other ciders because of it's category. The barrel aged ciders show such variety. Some of them I quite enjoy, but others don't taste very balanced and instead come across as overpowering in either aroma or flavor. I wanted to satisfy my curiosity about exactly what role the whisky cask plays in this cider. Here's what Thistly Cross says about this particular cider, "Matured in ex-Glengassaugh whisky casks this is a dry & subtle cider. Infused with mellow, vanilla oak of the cask. A refreshing, complex drink to be savoured." In keeping with many United States craft ciders, they keep their ABV right under 7% at that frequently utilized 6.9% that is unless you trust the other part of Thistly Cross' website that lists the cider at an ABV of 4%. Other tidbits I gleaned from the website is that the aging process takes about six months and it aims to balance the overtones of whisky with cider's fruit and lightness. This sounds like a tall order to me. The one thing I didn't notice was much mention of either apple varieties or wood notes from the barrel. I'm curious to find out how it tastes.

Appearance: Brilliant,  deep maize color

I could see lots of still bubbles on the bottom of my glass through the complete brilliance of the cider. No haze here. It also appears as a deep maize color. Definitely more rich and saturated in color than many ciders. 

Aromas: overripe apples, yeast, vinous

I could smell fruit first, specifically yummy warm overripe apples. Next, I noted yeast and some booziness. Hints of wine ghost across my palate. At the tail end of the aromas, I could detect some astringency. The Whisky-Cask Cider does not present too much whisky in the aromas.

Sweetness: Quite Sweet

This is obviously and immediately sweet. I'm not at all sure why Thistly Cross' promotional copy lists it as medium dry. There is nothing wrong with making a sweet cider and it helps the sweetness fans find it when it is described as sweet.

Flavors and drinking experience: mildly sparkling, plenty of boozy flavors, odd finish

I think the relatively low level of fizz is a good thing for the Whisky Cask. It has a lot going on between the sweetness and the intensity of boozy barrel flavors; it doesn't need to add aggressive bubbles to the list. What I could not smell very much in terms of whisky notes I can certainly taste. The whisky flavors and sweetness cannot be separated; it is an intense and sweet boozy experience. In a bigger gulp the Whisky-Cask has more flavors but still not much in the way of nuance. It's finish lingers and is a bit weird; to be completely honest it veers towards the acidic and chemical.

Overall, Thistly Cross's Whisky Cask is a big sweet cider. It seems best enjoyed at trivia with fried foods like cheese sticks and fries. Combine some crunch and salt with all of the flavors in this cider, and you'll bring out the best in it.

Our Whisky-Cask Aged Cider
Matured in ex-Glengassaugh whisky casks this is a dry & subtle cider.
Infused with mellow, vanilla oak of the cask.
A refreshing, complex drink to be savoured.
ABV: 6.9%
PRODUCT: Clear golden, smooth, medium dry Scottish cider
AGE: Matured for at least 6 months to give balance & smoothness
- See more at: http://www.thistlycrosscider.co.uk/products-page/all-products/#sthash.EzhXajNQ.dpuf