Ciderie Familiale Kerné (4.5% ABV, 750ml). So this is the original cider from the "Kerné" series, without an additional moniker like "brut" or "doux" attached. Like the other three I tried, it's made of 100% fresh pressed apples from the Britany region; no sweeteners, no colourings added.
Speaking of colour, it's a medium hazy amber (or murky orange) here, with a bit of a head that collapsed too quickly for my camera. As I've come to expect from medium dry/medium sweet French ciders, it delivers intense apple flavour, a bit tart, and a bit musty, in the nose, along with mild barnyard funk and dried figs, plus some vinegar. Medium body with moderate carbonation. Bittersweet, musty red apples on the palate at first, some vinegar (not as much as the "Fruité"), dried fruits - with stronger tannins and apple skin bitterness towards the finish, as well as some funk. Musty apples again, and a bit of honey, in the aftertaste. This is a medium-dry cider, but with a lot of character and fruit flavour. 8.5/10.
I finally decided that I needed to make a list of the 70+ different ciders I've tasted during the past month and a half to keep track as I'm trying to hunt down more, and as I was putting the list together I realized that, on average, the French ciders fare rather better than the English - so far.;)
Reviewed on 06 Nov 2023
