Sheppy's Goldfinch Dry Cider

I bet you thought that I had exhausted the range of Sheppy's ciders? Well, as I may have said once or twice before they seem to have an endless range and every now and again I spot a new one. Having said that, as far as the bottled varieties go I am fairly sure there are not many more to try. I say that without checking on their website, of course! Mind you, there are ciders and then there are varieties of ciders - for example, having the same blend of cider but dry, medium dry, medium etc. It kind of makes sense (if it is done well) although it makes more sense for larger producers than smaller ones!

I have some expectation of this cider, being the similar to Bullfinch but dryer. Again, it has an unusual label for the modern Sheppy's. A bit of a throw back but a nice image nonetheless. At 7% too its a good strength for a cider - just remember that in a 750ml bottle its a whole lotta alcohol!

Now, Goldfinch is a golden and uber bright cider and, whilst it says "slightly sparkling" on the label, expect a big ol' fizz when you pour it into a glass! Mind you, this dies off quite a lot once poured and settles down well. It is very bright though! The smell is slightly chemical but has some great cider flavour asides from it. No oakiness coming through (another feature of the label)... I may have to go off and sniff some oak to see what I should be picking up from it!!:-)

Bullfinch was good in my books. This is better. Saying that, its probably only because it is a dry version, so if a sweeter cider is your thing then feel free to disagree. They are both good ciders though. It has a deep cider flavour with lots of bitter sharp going on. The tannin is reasonably drying in the mouth although not excessively. I am persuaded that filtering removes a lot of the complexities of a cider and tannin seems to be one of the biggest losers in this. Understated is a word I would use to describe the earthy and tannic f;avours of this cider. The acid seems to be fairly good though, although compliments rather than competes with the tannin.

Goldfinch doesn't have a very long aftertaste to it, and it is slightly cleaner than it really ought to be. Still, this is not going to make or break the cider for me. It is very good and its just a shame that its so hard to find! I think I may have said the same about Bullfinch too!

Here is the thing. I scored this at 73/100, which a respectable bronze apple. Now I have written this up I figured I should check Bullfinch and, well, it also scored 73/100. So the system works... though I do prefer this version - its all a matter of degree's though eh.