The General

Comes in a 330 ml bottle. Golden colour, with a honeyed aroma which carries an acrid tobacco tone. The flavour is of honey with vanilla, but with a bitter, wooden aftertaste, suggestive of a whisky cask. Complex and unusual, though not entirely successful: the alcohol burn masks some of the expected subtler tones.

strong flavour, great slow drinker. usually prefer a medium sweet but this is a great change

You can definitely tell from the first taste that this is a mature aged cider full of oak, even whisky flavours. At 8.4% it's a slow drink but could quite easily get carried away and enjoy several on an evening.

500ml bottles last few years. Proper vintage cider - easy to see why this has won multiple awards

Had bag-in-box. Clear, dark yellow, fruity, a medium to me. Drinkable for 8.4% but one to try a half rather than a whole session cider!

I have the bag in box version. Golden colour, clear and still. Aroma of honey and whisky. Wood and vanilla in the flavour but also has an alcohol burn.

Please note: this is the bag in the box variant. Tried at The Gladstone Arms cider festival. Described once as a blunderbuss of flavour, quite fitting. This cider has a light burn, smoky flavour and a hint of acidity. Dry but not overpoweringly bitter. A great cider if you don't mind strong alcoholic volume.

This cider is very dry and has an aftertaste that lasts quite a while(i had very spicy jerky a few hours after and could still taste cider rather than jerky). Despite that it is a nice tasting cider if you're into the dry ones. Not a cider I would drink regullarly but I would happily drink it every so often.

Too bitter for my liking, especially with the dryness and acidity.

Strong fruit aroma, dry and fairly complex, but a little too watered down for my liking

This is a fairly dry one, bitter, not as fruity as I tend to like and doesn't seem that English in style to me (though I've only had about half a dozen english ciders, so what do I know?) There's a nice light taste at first, then BAM-big bitter hit. Not a fave.

I don't know a English it is, but definitely astringent. Dry but nice fruit and body. A little too astringent for my taste.

Named as a tribute to Sir Redvers Buller, of Crediton. This vintage is matured in an 100 year old oak vat which has the nickname of "The General" Key Apple Varieties. Tremlett's Bitter, Farmers Glory & White Alphington. Tasted at Sandford Orchards, Crediton.

330ml bottle from Morrisons, Darlington UK. Golden colour, white foam head that rapidly dissipates away and aroma of apple, woody oak. Taste is fruity apple, sweetish, with brandy, wood, boozy, bitter earthy tannins. Medium bodied, soft to medium carbonation, drying bitter tannic finish. Quite drinkable.