English Vintage Cider 2023

Golden colour, clear and has moderate fizz. Made by Westons for Waitrose albeit this seems like the Westons British Vintage with a slight rebranding. Refreshing apple aroma. A touch of straw and honey. Gentle apple flavour. Honeyed and easy drinking.

This 2023 vintage is a very pleasant medium dry cider with a very palletable aged oak flavour with a leathery undertone. It's rich, full-bodied, and full of complex flavour.

This 2023 effort has a zesty lemon aroma, sharp apple peel and oak. The taste is almost the same - zesty, sharp, slightly acidic and very nice. There’s light, sharp carbonation with a depth of flavour that’s welcome and enjoyable. The label on the bottle boasts that the cider would go well with a good cheddar - or with pork and a mustard sauce - and that’s right, it would. But I opted to have it on its own. This cider is made by Weston’s - crafted by Jonathan Blair, their Master Cider Maker - and it tastes just like their ‘British Vintage’ cider - but with a peppery and ginger-like back end and aftertaste. It’s medium to full bodied and has a medium length. It’s on the drier side of medium with a kick of sweetness that tastes a bit syrupy and fake. It’s really nice however, and it has some complexity which is great, it just doesn’t hit a 5/5 as it’s a bit heavy at 7.3%ABV and weighty in terms of apple punch. Overall, it’s a very nice cider and I would have it again, perhaps with a cheddar as the label suggests. 4/5.