Wilcox Dabinet Apple Cider

I am shocked to say that I have never tried a Wilcox cider on here before. I guess that there are so many things to try that I may skip the odd few now and again... and as long as I eventually get to them no harm done eh?!

This is part of a haul from the Bristol Cider Shop over the last month. It is nice to see that they do change the range every so often - after all, you must try other things now and again to really appreciate where you are in the range of tastes. Given that cider changes barrel to barrel, year to year, I did fear for a while that I would have to start all over again at some point. Well, when I run out of new things to try I may go back to some and update them with re-tastings... after all, there are those who I think I have been harsh on, those who I think I was too generous to and those.. well... those that I would use any excuse to seek out and try another bottle!

This Wilcox, for me, isn't the ideal Wilcox to start off with - it is medium sweet and also a single variety. Still, if I like it then I will be hunting down the drier versions toute suite!!OK, it pours out with a low sparkle and is golden and bright. In all fairness, filtering is not something I do a lot of, and I do feel that some cider/perry is so heavily filtered that it loses something... but at the same time, there is something nice about a bit of a clarity.

The smell is sweet, but has lots of dabinet coming through (note to Wilcox... I am sure it is spelled dabinet and not dabinett!) This smell is fruity, slightly funky and lively with a mature farmyard background. Good start!

It is a medium sweet but there is some character of fruit coming into the taste too. In fact, the more I drink the better the balance of fruit and sweet there is. And it is a nice example of dabinet. Having made a truly SV version myself as a trial, I can say with confidence that this is good dabinet! There is little acid to it - which is right for dabinet. Its a really good cider.

I guess if I am being super picky, I would say that the sweetening leaves things a touch cloying, but I guess that is splitting hairs... after all, it is a sweet!

There is a long, drying aftertaste. This is where tannic bittersweet apples come into their own.

Overall, this is a great cider. If it were a dry I suspect it would earn a gold apple, but as it is a silver one is pretty good going. Nice. A score of 83/100.