Gwatkin Yarlington Mill Cider

Ha ha. I have been lucky enough to get back to Bristol recently... and although the Bristol Cider Shop was fairly lightly stocked it was fortunately lightly stocked with lots of things I haven't tried before:-)

So, here we have another Gwatkins cider. Yet another Yarlington Mill single variety to compare with all the other YM single varieties. There seem to be a staple few that lots of producers make - Kingston Black (clearly the most popular single variety), Dabinett (almost as popular). Yarlington Mill must be right up there with them too. And actually that is not a bad thing - its a great apple. I have said all this before, haven't I??

When I write these reviews, often I will try them the day before and write up the tasting profile and notes before saving it and then coming back on another day - empty bottle in hand. Other times, I write up notes on the back of an envelope (when the 'puter) isn't handy enough to use. Only rarely do I get to write up my ramblings prior to trying a cider - or (as I am now) straight into a new blog post. In doing this one, I have noticed that this is review 151. Wow. That went fast! Have I really drunk 151 ciders in the last year?

This cider has a moderate fizz but is deep and reddy golden - exactly what to expect from a Yarlington Mill cider. The aroma is deep too and tannic, full bodied and deep. I am expecting the taste to be equal to this (if a little light on the acid... if its a true SV) And sure enough, not much acid behind the tannin. The tannin is a little light too - although this is almost certainly due to the sweetness of the drink.

Its at this point I notice its a medium. What is going on here? First Heck's Port Wine and now this Gwatkins... I do hope there is a dryer version and I was just unlucky that the Cider Shop only had these. OK, I suppose I should have paid more attention when I bought them. Saying that, both this and the Hecks are bordering on being too sweet to drink - is it just a bit too far?

I guess I am a little saddened by it... however, re-approaching this drink once the information has been absorbed, it is full bodied underneath the sweetness (although it is still a little hard to get beneath the sweetener).

Aftertaste is dominated by sweetness (as is the rest of the drink). A bit of tannin comes through. I have to say though that the medium sweetening is too much for this single variety to take. I have to admit that I have determined to hunt down a dryer version of this cider to review. I feel as though the review has done it a disservice as Gwatkins is a renowned artisan cidermaker.

A score of 70 sees a surprising bronze - I am sure the same cider but dryer will score significantly more.