We’re super excited to be launching these two very small batch ciders just in time for Christmas.
Both are studies in barrel aging, that mysterious process in which the cider and wood interact with each other across time.
Sum of the Parts, Act 3.
75cl. 7% ABV
Inspired by a passage in the Herefordshire Pomona that spoke of the long aging potential of our favourite apple Foxwhelp, we’ve been filling barrels with it each vintage that passes and leaving them to mature, in a sort of Solera type system.
Each year we draw off some of the oldest liquids and top them up with the next oldest liquid and so on until all the barrels are full again.
Act 3 brings together the very oldest components of the solera into an intriguing, cerebral creation. Vivid orange-gold in colour, the nose offers up sweet wood, orange oil, purple flowers and subtle smoke. In the mouth it’s plushly textured, with the once raw acids beautifully polished over time, serving to intensify the flavours of our candy, blueberry, mulberry and candied citrus.
The scent of blue flowers, violets predominantly, play across the palate which is noticeably saline and which reveals a hint of tannin and smoke on the finish.
This is a beautiful, late night, contemplative sort of cider and one of very few made in this style in the world.
Once in a Lifetime #2
75cl. 8.4% ABV
They say that lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place but Once In A Lifetime 2 is an exception that may just prove the rule!
Like its predecessor, we moved young Egremont Russet cider from the exceptional 2021 vintage into ex-white burgundy barrels to mature with truly beautiful results.
Translucent pale yellow with green highlights, this is sweetly aromatic like frangipane, but with subtle mint and ripe melon hints too. It’s plushly textured with mouthwatering acidity, and a complex flavour journey visits ripe kiwi, lemon oil, cantaloupe melon and nectarine, finishing with that classic, russet nuttiness.