This is the second of three ciders I bought from Godshill Cider Company. Its made from a variety of apples hand picked on the isle of wight. This is going to be near as dammit a full juice cider fermented out to full dryness (perhaps with a little assistance from sugar to get it to its strength). It certainly looks golden and tempting in the bottle (with the exception of the name and pitch on the label!
Two things to start with. I am not sure if is actually 'Gait Crasher Strong Cider' or just 'Gait Crasher Cider'. Mind you, its a bit of a silly name though... but at that strength it would only take a few to be rather too real!
Its moderately fizzy and smells all cidery from the bottle. There is a faint toffee apple smell in there too, so perhaps there has been a bit of sweetening done (doh!)
To taste, it is fairly deep. Sure, it has been sweetened and this creates a little bit of an odd aftertaste. It has plenty of tannin going for it though and a real sharp kick towards the end of the mouthful. Nice but unexpected. I quite like it, although the sweetening is a little odd.
This sweetening is not apple juice - could be aspartame (I cannot remember the last time I tried a cider with saccharin, so cannot assume anything about that). This is the other thing about sweetening cider. As I have noted previously, too much apple juice ruins a good cider. But at the same time the alternatives of artificial additives can leave an aftertaste too. I am really not sure which is better personally - I guess its all OK as long as it is done with care and sensitivity to the cider.
Anyway, back to this drink. It is very drinkable (so, mind the % or earn a headache!) and competent for a strong cider. It scores 73 so earns itself a bronze apple from me:-)
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