OK, there are so many things to take in with this cider... confusing things too! However, none are truly to do with the taste and are therefore neither positive or negative. Just facts about the cider... for those who may care!!
Well, Badgers is a Dorset based brewery of some note. I knew they were dorset because it is embossed into the glass; 'Dorset Ales'. These people are better known for producing 'Tanglefoot' and 'Fursty Ferret'.
However. This cider is produced in Somerset. It says so on the back. Not only that, its produced by Thatchers. So, if you were wondering why it is labelled as both Badger and Thatchers then you now know. Thatchers must make one heck of a lot of cider!
Does this make a difference? It says all the right things on the bottle - I like the honesty of people actually stating that they didn't really produce the stuff, but rather left it to a company who has rather more experience at producing cider. The only bit I don't get is the statement that using vintage varieties of apples produces a medium dry cider. No it doesn't. It produces a dry cider that is (going by many of other Thatchers ciders) back sweetened and pasteurised. Oh, all right, that is petty and pretty nit picky. Thatchers may have not done as well on here as they perhaps could have (it is only my opinion!!) but they could out cider me any day probably!
So, lets get on with tasting it. It has a cidery smell (I also got a bit of sulphites as well though...) Taste is smooth blend of cider apples. Mellow tannins - not harsh and you can actually get the flavour of dabinett... It was the one variety named on the label and it seems there is good measure.
I rather like this actually. It has a pleasing taste, which carries through to to the end nicely. A good measure of acid backs up the tannins and taste which lifts the cider. A little sweet for me, but nothing unexpected. I honestly thought this would just be a safe, sweet cider. But it isn't. I like it. There is a character to it that smells and tastes of Somerset.
No, it isn't Burrow Hill... but then there isn't much that is to be honest (oh, I haven't reviewed that one yet... a mixture of fear of its owner, Julian Temperley, and the fact I haven't had some for quite a while now). I ought to soon!!
This is a pretty honest cider, with a good taste. Whilst it says it is oak aged, I am not getting much of that (thank God). Oak really shouldn't interfere with the flavour of a cider. I want apples, not wood!
It scored 77/100 for me.
The re-badging of ciders by breweries is, on the face of it, something I'm not in favour of. It really depends on what's being claimed on the bottle. If it's strongly marketed as a Dorset Cider, yet comes from Somerset, that can only be wrong in my book.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, the practice of buying in cider from regional producers to sell on with brewery branding is not exactly a new thing. This seems to have been very common in the West Country during the heyday of the cider works, and probably led directly to the demise of many of the sizeable regional producers which were often bought up by their brewing neighbours, mainly it seems for well respected brands as much as the equipment/expertise.