Burrow Hill Perry

Well, both Olivers and Burrow Hill were my favourite producers of 2013, so I guess it is fair cop to try the Burrow Hill Perry next. I expect something slightly different too - after all, each comes from a distinct cider/perry producing county: mind you, I confess to having heard the saying that perry can only be made in sight of May Hill and somewhere in my brain that suggested that perry pears were only grown in Herefordshire... which of course is complete nonsense,

While I am not planning on getting drawn into a 'May Hill' argument, I will attempt to explain it... which is perhaps a bit ironic seeing as this perry is from Somerset:-)

May Hill is, guess what, a hill situated between Herefordshire and Gloucestershire (in fact, that is not a bad way of describing it as some of it is in Gloucestershire and some is in Herefordshire). The saying goes along the lines (as I have already mentioned) that perry pears only grow in sight of May Hill (i.e. Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire... I think). Or, that perry can only be made in sight of the hill. I am not sure of the provenance of the saying (though I bet it comes from the counties around May Hill), and perhaps it suggests the roots of perry making in the UK rather than anything more significant... Well, this perry should prove or disprove it; and to be honest I am expecting it to be pretty good!

Myths and stories aside, I am familiar with Burrow Hill - they are one of my favourite producers... and I have good taste:-) Mind you, my experience of them is from a cider and cider brandy perspective - so this should be an interesting departure for me. This perry looks light golden - pretty yellow in fact. It is also bright. Once again, this is likely filtered as there has been no settlement in the several months it has been sat on my shelf.

Pouring it out, there is a low level of carbonation going on. It froths a bit but settles well. It smells almost cidery. It has rather a rich smell; delicate but rich at the same time. I am getting quite a lot of peachy in the nose - which is quite pleasant. Perhaps it is me, but these perries sure are much more aromatic than cider in the complex notes.

On the first taste I am still thinking 'cidery' - it does have some of the same qualities as a cider... I ought to make the point that Olivers perry had similar qualities, although I think it was a bit more gentle. I am getting grapefruit now - it is probably as there is a moderate amount of acid in the mouth, plus it is a medium dry - which it is (no more, no less). Thinking about it, there is a rather generous amount of acid in this perry - alongside a mature tannin.

The aftertaste is a little warming in the throat, like a wine. The aftertaste is moderate in length and fading.

I like this perry a lot. It is quite vineous - it does say on the label to treat it like a wine and I am getting the impression that perry is more a wine than cider. Well, I say that on that basis of two excellent perries. Magners pear cider? Well, as with the cider I confess to thinking that it is a blend of cider and alcopop...

Anyway, this perry scores a silver apple with 80/100.

Burrow Hill; Cider Bus Cider

Aha, so is this the stuff that you bathe in mud and pay rather a lot for at Glastonbury each year? And I thought it came in a tanker:-)

I have never been to Glasonbury... I came close once in the days when you could try your hand at jumping the fence, but alas the surf was far too good. My mates and I contented ourselves with a full day on the waves, followed by an open fire in the evening by our tents listening to the concert at full volume (it was the Levellers too, so that should give you an idea as to how long ago that was. In fact, it became a bit of a 'tradition' to go off surfing during the Glastonbury week... that and the annual 'Run to the Sun' pilgrimmage (and 'traditionally' the sea was flat each and every time we went!)

Enough of that. Cider Bus is a medium dry, 5.5% golden cider with a funky picture of the bus on the label. "Farm pressed from Somerset apples"; lovely. That is what I have come to expect of one of my favourite cider producers. "Serve over Ice".... hang on, did they miss this bit when proofing the label? Mind you, if it's tailored to Glasto fans then I could understand it being there (do they have ice at the festival too? How civilised... though I could think of better uses than putting it in cider!)

On opening, there is quite a large pfzz. This fizz remains at pouring and during the drink. It smells mildly fruity and cidery... not what I would call a typical Burrow Hill cider... and there i a faint whiff of sulphite too. Just looking at it, it looks very filtered - leaving it lighter and fainter than I would expect. The fizz has to be force carbonation too. So it is a cider for the masses... though never thuoght Julian Temperley was the type!

Moving on to the taste I must confess to be rather disappointed with this cider. I guess its going for the taste of Glastonbury and is aimed at those who lived off it during the festival (in a reminiscent kind of way), but its not really doing it for me. It tastes very mild - almost watery - with low level tannin and a balance of acid. I am not sure I would call it particularly tamed as faint. The tannins are there, and they are nice - but its as if the volume has been turned right down.

Going through the glass, the tannic flavour does build up a little and is moderately fruity and tannic by the end. The cider is also fairly dry, so the sweetening has been done lightly. Not that it needs too much sweetening as there isn't that much dryness about it. It has a short aftertaste which, again, is moderately fruity with a slight tannic body.

Its not a terrible cider - its not bad. Its probably the best cider available at Glastonbury in fact. Given that I have the choice of other Burrow Hill ciders that are excellent, I am not sure I would buy this again.

A score of 65/100 is just about right for me.

Burrow Hill Somerset Cider Brandy (5 years old)

It is time now to crack open the first of my haul from the last trip to the Bristol Cider Shop. And what a way to start than with the much lauded 5 year old cider brandy from the Somerset Cider Brandy Company (aka Burrow Hill).

Having tried the 3 year old, which is a little rough around the edges, but retains a great cidery character, I am expecting this to be much more Calvados like (if I am allowed to say that); smoother, less cidery and with new/interesting flavours which come through the extra time in the barrel.

You will notice that I played the cheap-skate card once again and bought the smaller bottle. Actually, it was primarily so I could afford more choice (and one of those includes the Burrow Hill 'Cider Bus' cider). Never-the-less, it serves my budget (and diet) well to not have too much of it!

Not surprisingly, I have had to 'adjust' my scoring for this on the basis that it's not cider. It's what I have done for this kind of tipple before now - and it should measure up with the rest of the reviews (hopefully). As before, I have averaged the tannin and acid scores with the rest of the scoring - this is only fair given that i) I have a scoring system that needs a score in those boxes for it to make sense and ii) you cannot expect Calvados, Cider Brandy, Pomeau etc. to be a style where these things add up in the same way as cider. I hope that makes sense!

It is light in colour, and, giving it a minute in the glass to really get the smell going it is really different from it's younger relation. Having said that, I am still getting an apple fruity smell from it - so it hasn't lost all the cider credentials. There is also plenty of oak in the smell too (it has had five years to acquire it!) However, it is more distilled in smell than the 3 year old. With a strong alcoholic aroma that is not that removed from a malt whisky (though the profile is lighter and more fruity).

The taste is great. This is much more Calvados like and the edges really have started to come off it. The brandy is smooth and warming, whilst the apple flavours linger and develop. Forget tannin and acid, this is much more complex than that... in fact I am hunting for the words to describe it properly: lots of oak, a hint of cider, vanilla and cream notes with (and this is a bit surprising) an earthy flavour too. This is smoother than most Calvados I have tried (although I would still put it on a pancake (that's crepe for the French:-)

The aftertaste is mostly warming, although the creaminess of the cider brandy lingers at the back of the tongue and in my cheeks. There. How did I do with those descriptive terms? And I didn't have to Google any of it!

This is better than the 3 year old, which is a petulant child compared to this 5 year old version. They do say that there is a peak age for whisky - I believe its the 18 year old incarnations. The 30 year olds are more for those with big wallets than really as examples of excellence (hey, that is just my opinion!) I do wonder what the peak age is for cider brandy/calvados? For me, that question is going to end up costing me as I will now need to venture towards the more expensive and older versions. I suspect the 10 year old is going to be the 'peak'... but don't forget to look at the 5 year old - it is really excellent.

Burrow Hill Somerset Royal 3yr old Cider Brandy

Well, I have been doing this for over a year now so I think I deserve to get to the Cider Brandies sooner or later:-) And having discussed such things at great length at the Bristol Cider Shop I opted to start with the 3 year old incarnation. Actually, I had already bought a bucket load of bottles (many of which will no doubt find their reviews on here over the next month or two) so had to watch my spending and weent for the cheapest... I actually really wanted to start on the 5 year old!

To score, this one is going to be a little tricky. With the pommeau and aperitif, at least there was something to draw back on in terms of tannin and acidity. I doubt this will be able to be judged on either score so I will have to figure out a way of crossing that bridge else the score will be meaningless. The troubles of tasting cider and cider based products eh:-)

So, Mr Temperley, this is what all the fuss at the European Union was all about then, is it?! I must admit that what's left of the patriot in me is very pleased that its not just the French who can produce this stuff (I nearly wrote Calvados, although thats just a region in France isn't it:-) For those who aren't familiar with the fight that Burrow Hill had to endure just to be able to call it 'Cider Brandy' its worth Googling... though here is a link that may help:

http://www.ciderbrandy.co.uk/pgi.htm

Phew, glad that is there - otherwise this would be the single longest review have done! Suffice to say that the term 'Cider Brandy' was left out of an EU document which subsequently caused a stream of crap to occur. Hmmm, I didn't do that justice - follow the link! OK, on with the review.

It pours out clear and golden - it has lost its cider colour to a large degree although it still has an orangy glow to it (and seems to be a touch darker than Calvados I have in the cupboard). It smells strong and rich too. My guess is that the older versions are less harsh up the nose.

However, the taste is very well done and makes me glad I started with this one. It has hints of its cider heritage, although is nicely warm and rough in the throat.Hold on, better refill:-) Wow, this has definitely not lost the cider - and I suspect that at this age it is the true cider-brandy of the cider brandy's. Its quite harsh on the palate - a lot like scotch blended whisky is against the smoothness of the Islay malts. I am glad I started with this version of it - I reckon that by 5 years it will be a lot less cider than spirit. Its not as apply as the aperitif though.

The aftertaste is, as expected, warming and fruity. Its quite hot in the mouth after each sip and lingers for ages.

To get around the scoring system, I have taken an average of the general scores (excluding the overall and character). My hope is that the score is still representative.

This scores a very admirable 86/100 and is a silver apple. I am definitely going to be trying the more mature versions (although am not an art critic so may draw the line at the Damien Hirst inspired version!) Nice one Mr Temperley and team!

Burrow Hill Kingston Black Apple Apperitif

Burrow Hill are not exactly your run of the mill cider producer. Visit a number of producers and you will find many make cider (duh, yeah, so!!) but along Burrow Hill is an experience in itself. Whereas others offer a wide variety of ciders, and at some you can even try your hand at blending, Burrow Hill produce a seemingly huge and varied range of stuff from the humble apple.

A good Waitrose will sell either the Somerset Pomona (already reviewed) or this one, the Kingston Black Aperitif. These cider based drinks are both crafted and not exactly cider (again... doh!) If you are hunting around for Burrow Hill you will also come across their alias - The Somerset Distillary, or Somerset Cider Brandy... again, available in larger Waitrose stores, this is the English answer to Calvados.

In an effort to sound reasonably up with things, its worth mentioning that Burrow Hill recently won PGI status for their Cider Brandy. However, this is more for the technicalities of European weird regulations which failed to include the term 'Cider Brandy' as a legal thing... In any case, it has to be hats off to Julian Temperley for two very good reasons: 1. that he pursued this and got the regulations sorted out and 2. that he bothered to do it at all - after all, West Country cider makers have a bit of a reputation for simply sticking their fingers up at rules and carrying on!

Now, to this drink. I must confess to have trying it several times before... if I cannot get hold of the Pomona then this is always next on the list. I didn't so much discover it as was persuaded by Mr Temperley to buy a bottle when I bought some of his Kingston Black Bottle Fermented Cider (not yet reviewed for Cider Pages!). Call it salesmanship or whatever, it offsets the dryness of the Bottle Conditioned Cider so well that I don't mind the tenner or so I paid for the bottle.

So, its a nice addition to cider, but how does it stack up on its own?

Well, this is a blend of Kingston Black juice and Cider Brandy and you get all of that just from the smell once its poured. Clearly its a shot glass drink as its 18% (it is an aperitif innit!). And sipping away at it, all the promise in the smell is there in the mouth. It is quite sweet and syrupy, but the distinct flavour of Kingston Black comes through in spades. This lasts through to the aftertaste, where the brandy warms the back of the throat.

There isn't a stack of tannin in this - it could be that its competing with so much else that is going on. However, there is little acid effect as it really is very sweet. You can taste it in the profile of the Kingston Black juice though, so it must be there.

I take my hat off (well, I would if I had one) to Julian and his team. Not only do they make cracking cider, but they have stretched the boundaries of apple produce in the UK drinks industry to match or even surpass that of the French.

88/100 and a very safe silver apple for Burrow Hill

Burrow Hill Somerset Cider

I seem to be spoiling myself with cider at the moment. Partly this is thanks to having a client in Avonmouth - which means that I can get to The Cider Shop in Bristol easily. If you haven't visited, this is a treasure trove of West Country cider makers from both Herefordshire and Somerset. The radius of suppliers is 50 miles in each direction, but even so there is a huge range to choose from.

Buying 10 bottles that I hadn't tried before still left easily another 10 to go (well, I have to go back sometime eh!). I have to say that these guys aren't on their own though - if you can get to Ross, try Truffles Deli (I know, its a deli... it sells a lot of cider too).

Anyway, the next bottle I come to is the unmistakable Burrow Hill. These guys are surely some of the leading cider brains in the UK, if not the world. It ought to be a winner all the way. Well, as I have already opened it, I guess there is only one way of finding out!

Its, as expected, a nice golden colour and (I am pleased to say) with little carbonation to it. The aroma is fruity and tannic. Pretty heavy tannins too. Basically, very good if rather heavy.

As anticipated, this cider is all bittersweet cider apple with little sharpness to counter the huge tannins and fruit in the mouth. Its not bone dry though, so the sweetening is serving a purpose. Talking of sweetening, this is sensibly done. The drink isn't about the sweetness - its about the flavour. And I really do appreciate that. Why would I expect anything else eh!

This is a really good cider. Heavy, west country (Somerset) style with little time for frills and faffs like bubbles and sweetness. I do reckon its filtered though... but then who said filtering was always a bad thing?!

A couple of comments. Burrow Hill have over 40 varieties of cider apple that go into their blends. This is a big number of varieties to blend with, and it comes through on the balance of the cider. I doubt all 40 are in this one bottle as Burrow Hill do make several types of cider. However, this is a good blended cider - and I think the best ones are.

My only other comment is to Burrow Hill really. Why on earth does it say "Can be served over ice" on the bottle? I can only assume this is either ironic or simply taking the wotsit out of those who know no better. I doubt ice would have added anything to this cider!

Anyway, a great silver apple with a score of 86/100

Burrow Hill Stoke Red Bottle Fermented Cider

Ah. At last. A Burrow Hill. One of my favourite cider makers - and certainly one of the best cider makers in the world. And, no, I am not exagerating. If you have visited Burrow Hill, its really rather hard to miss all the award certificates, the professionalism and the ambition of the company. After all, Burrow Hill is one of only 3 or 4 places in the UK with a licence to distill cider into cider brandy.

Enough of glowing about Burrow Hill. This Stoke Red is one of two bottle fermented ciders that Burrow Hill produce. I have to admit I have tried both before. But not for a long time! Its one of those ciders that are rather expensive, and usually saved for special occasions. More like a champagne in style than a cider I guess.

This bottle, which was chilled, opened with a  big pop and it took all my bottle opening skill not to ditch rather a lot all over the kitchen floor. So I would say that it is highly fizzy. But its a lovely colour though (once it is confined to a glass!!).

A little background. Stoke Red, which originates from Somerset, is a bittersharp cider apple. Whereas Kingston Black is a mild bittersharp, Stoke Red is more a medium - essentially it means that the acid is higher, although I am not sure about the level of tannin. Its regarded as a 'Vintage' cider apple - which these days simply means that its a likely cadidate for a single variety cider. However, my own take on vintage apples is that they add a lot to a blend...That is not the point of this though. I suppose we all have our opinions and I suspect I am in a minority on this matter!

The cider is both tannic and acidic. Nice. distinctive and inviting. Not a cider that has been played around with then - I expected this from Stoke Red (given the information above).

Surprisingly though, it tastes fairly thin. It also has a little bit of an odd flavour. Definitely has a character to it, although I am not sure that there is quite enough of it. This is where the single variety cider lets me down. To be honest, I kind of figured on some kind of oddness in taste.  And this is SV in all its glory and faults. Stoke Red. Great apple but does it need something else to make it really shine - a bittersweet? I doubt very much that I could teach Burrow Hill much though:-)

Also, it is bone dry. Which is nice and allows the flavour to come through. It has a lasting aftertaste which actually develops in the mouth and is pleasing. I am going to stick my neck out on this - I think I preferred the New Forest Bouche Cider. Not just because its a blend (and I won't bang on about that any more), but its got a bit more body and complexity to it. This is very different though - I don't think I have tasted any others quite like it.

An interesting alternative to this cider (created by Julian Temperley - who runs Burrow Hill) is what he calls 'Orchard Mischief'. Its where you add some of his excellent Somerset Pomona to a dry cider to give it a little sweetness. I have tried it with Burrow Hill Kingston Black and it really gives the cider a punch and a bit of much needed sweetness (the Bottle Fermented Kingston Black feels much drier than the Stoke Red). I recommend it!!

Now, for all I have criticised this cider, the numbers really speak for themselves - 80/100 and a silver apple for Burrow Hill. I guess its not as bad as my writing makes out. To be fair, it is very well put together (and bottle fermentation to this standard is really an art to master in cider making).

I guess what I have observed though is that I am still yet to be persuaded by any single variety. I still think blends are best.

Burrow Hill Somerset Pomona

And now for something completely different!

It has to be said that there is more that can be done with the humble apple than make pies or juice or even cider. We seem to take it for granted to some degree, but the UK has the climate and skills to make not only world class ciders, but also compete on the cider brandy stakes too.

What is cider brandy? Well, try thinking Calvados and then stop because the French won't let anyone else call it that. Julian Temperley, of Burrow Hill has been making Cider Brandy for many years now, and alongside this, produces aperatif and (kind of) desert cider. And it is what I see as a desert cider that this review wants to have a snifter at next.

There are three aperatif's that Burrow Hill make, which are a blend of cider brandy and either cider or juice: and Eau d'vie, a Kingston Black, and the Somerset Pomona.

These are not ciders - not pitched as cider and not in anyway a 'craze'. Unlike the cider with fruit (or should that be fruit with cider) this is a properly crafted product. NB - yes, I know I am hard on 'fruit cider'. Maybe one day I will come around to it... may not. Somerset Pomona is sold in a tall slender bottle and, with an alcoholic volume of XX, should be drunk as a short drink.

What to say of it though. It is still (as expected). It is rather sweet (also, as expected). It is fairly syruppy (again, this is very much like a desert wine, so that is fine). Overall though, it is delicious! The cider and apples really come through on the tongue, together with a little fire in the throat when swallowed. The aftertaste lingers for ages and it is balanced sufficiently that no one thing takes over. Yum!

There is tannin in this drink, although it doesn't rule at all - the sweetness probably rules more than anything - although I shouldn't overstate it as there is much more to it than that. There is also not a lot of sharpness, although there is a little (in the same way as the tannin). This has been blended to keep all things in balance.

I am always very impressed with Somerset Pomona (oops, yes... I admit it, I have tried a few bottles of this before now:-) I think it competes with any desert wine after a meal, or just chilling out. Even better, after a cider! Burrow Hill sell a small bottle of this with their very dry champagne style 'Kingston Black' cider - though it does actually work with most sparkling dry ciders. This they call 'Orchard Mischief'.

A very deserving 90/100 and the first Gold Apple for a fantastic alternative to cider:-)