Let's get fruity episode 6 - Apple
Updated: Aug 10
Here we go again, episode 6 already— last of the pomme fruit. The Pear and Quince rounds were epic, with some of the highest scores of the series, so I have high hopes for Apple.
As a warm-up for my weekend tasting, I began Saturday with a pint of tasty local Dorset cider at the New Forest Cider Pantry in Burley. Well worth a stop if you're travelling through the UK's New Forest. We didn't have any choice in the matter as the road was blocked by wild horses - what great reason to stop and explore.
If you'd like a little background on this brief excursion away from rum reviewing .. Here's my introduction to this crazy summer series.
A Cornish cider and apple brandy producer located, as the name suggests, in the beautiful Fowey Valley. A 750-year history suggests that this is a pretty decent location to grow and press apples!
Sadly both Cornwall and Devon have lost over 90% of their orchards in the last century and are often regarded as the 'fallen cider giants'. So the establishment, 30 years ago, of this artisan cider maker is all the more important.
Barry & Geraldine Gibson began making Fowey Valley cider from the fruit of trees in their garden. Fast forward 30 years and their full range of produce is still entirely made from fresh local apples.
Highly regarded for its award-winning ciders, Fowey Valley now distills a significant proportion of its cider to produce unaged apple Eau de Vie and Pommeau. Most recently their apple brandy has been aged in medium charred new European oak barrels - available online and at the distillery aged 1,2 & 3 years.
Time to taste... 5 apple distillates, 15-20ml of each, left to open up for 30 mins, all nosed first then tasted, in the same random order of the lead photo. Assisted today by some Elton John classics (don't ask) and a brief glimpse of British summer.
An experimental fruit distillate from Madeira's VA spirits (profiled distiller from Round 5). I was fortunate to receive a sample of this limited release from VA.
Paulo's first batch of apple distillate, currently resting at the distillery, may yet be bottled as fresh unaged Eau de Vie, or may find its life heads in the direction of aged apple brandy. Either way, I'm looking forward to it.
Nose: Baking spices. Punchy alcohol. Smells like a mix of fresh apples and caramelised apples. A little candied once you get past the alcohol. Hints of cherry nougat and a good splash of citrus zest. The least appley of the bunch and not quite the depth of the very best examples, but well made and inviting.
Mouth: Starts a little thin. Grows and develops into a clean, enjoyable, mouth-filling baked apple and spice delight. A little whisp of cherry pops up which is delicious. A mid-length faultless finish. [84+pts]
An apple distillate from today's profiled distiller - Cornwall-based Fowey Valley. Double pot distilled from their cider. They make this cider from apples harvested in their Cornish orchard and other local orchards.
Nose: Apples!! Compared to the Vinha Alta this is all apples. Dry, but sweet and sour dry - like a good scrumpy. Lighter orchard fruit notes and a touch of milk chocolate. Lacking depth & complexity, possibly due to the lower abv, but a great smell of dry rustic cider.
Mouth: Too thin for me. With a slightly sour, musty, off-fruit profile. The apples are there but a touch washed out. Unfortunately, it's not working for me [78-pts]
Another UK-made apple distillate. As with all of Capreolus' fruit distillates, this is a 'vintaged' limited release. This 2021 version was a batch of 376 of Barney's distinctive 375ml bottles. As the name suggests, this apple Eau de Vie is made from the produce of an extraordinary orchard - 1000 varietals of apple tree, located just 11 miles from the distillery. An incredible resource keeping alive many rare and ancient apple varieties.
Fully organic and wild fermented. Purity in a glass,
Capreolus was our profiled distiller back in episode 1 of this fruity madness.
Nose: Oh yes, this is lovely. Astonishing depth and complexity. This one climbs out of the glass and hugs you. Apples, but not just apples. It's a fruit symphony with the apple playing the lead. Buttery spice. Woody core - you can honestly smell the whole fruit. And everything is kept tightly in focus by a perfect slap of sharp fruit acid.
Mouth: This doesn't start as punchy as I hoped. But builds well into a mouth-coating bite of fragrant apple. The nose set a high bar that the palate doesn't quite reach.
Good texture. A complex spirit presenting an array of apple flavours. A delicate work of art with a long delicious finish that's a mix of sweet candied apple and pleasantly sharp apple wine. Outstanding stuff even though it falls a little short of Capreolus' incredible pear & quince. [87+pts]
NB: £5 of every bottle sold goes to support The Prince's Countryside Fund
Off to Germany to taste another treat from uber-micro artisan distiller Johannes Kolonko. This very special Eau de Vie was made from Gravensteiner apples that were gathered from the ground where they had fallen when fully ripe. Hand-cleaned and cored before long fermentation and pot distilling. This 2018 batch resulted in a tiny outturn of just 29 litres of spirit filled into Kolonko's iconic, beautiful, 200ml miniature bottles. I'll be profiling Kolonko in a future episode.
Nose: And the treats continue. Very different from the Capreolus but equally, if not more, astonishing. Starts with an incredible and unique candied style of apple - fresh and perfumed, with a deliciously unexpected natural sweetness. This leads on to old-fashioned pear drops and finally the sweet scent of a floor covered in delicious old, semi-rotting apples. Truly magnificent.
Mouth: Delicate, floral apple. A hint of cider vinegar. Candied cherries. Not quite the intensity or thickness to warrant 90 points but what can I say, it's special stuff. [88pts]
Our final stop today, as it should be, is a visit to Normandy. Famed for its cider and calvados, the House of Christian Drouin started production of this special limited-release cider Eau de Vie in one of their organic orchards in Gonneville-sur-Honfleur. 20 types of apples were gathered, grated, and lightly pressed. This apple must was long fermented for a huge 4 months before double pot distilling and finally resting for 6 months in amphorae. Bottled at a massive 60% abv, I'm hoping the period of resting has produced something rounded and approachable without losing the fresh intensity.
I recently reviewed a fascinating and delicious series of Drouin calvados that had been aged in ex-rum casks (find it here)
Nose: A big bold profile - as you would expect at 60% - but not too much. The time in Amphora has worked - this is presenting a clean, classy, classic apple profile.
Fermenting apples. Lovely balance. I am transported to the fermentation room in Normandy. Great depth, a touch of spice, and a tonne of intense fermenting crushed apples.
Mouth: The taste is immediately impressive. Not as delicate or as complex as the Capreolus or Kolonka, but a smashing drop that delivers boozy cider concentrate in a rewarding, fun, and great value spirit.
Fresh apples & baking spice. Caramelised apple. All balanced by the zing and zip of fresh cider vinegar. Outstanding alcohol integration and a super long finish. Incredible value. [87+pts]
In conclusion, a win for Kolonko - thanks largely to its spectacular nose. Standing in for Kolonko in the grand final will be the outstanding value silver medal Christian Drouin Amphora (due to there being none left of my tiny and rare Kolonko sample!)
Coming soon, one of the cornerstone fruits of the Eau de Vie world, it's time for Plum! And a profile of Distillerie Cazottes.
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