Whisky Cask

Sweet. Very smooth moderate barrel aged flavor without bitterness and lots of vanilla notes. Runs $7-8 / 500ml bottle in my area. Their website has a great user-submitted list of places to buy their ciders by country & state. Their "Traditional" variety is pretty similar, but Whisky Cask has more kick (ABV) and whisky barrel aged flavor. I've only seen Traditional, Whisky Cask, & Ginger so far, but they offer many other varieties.

Light golden Colour with good apple-vanilla hint. Relatively high carbonation while filling in the glass which flows down rapidly. Strong apple taste with an interesting aftertaste which gives a combination out of honey and vanilla. You feel processing within oak barrels there which is pretty nice. After a (short) while the taste goes down. For the alcohol taste the same. Not my favorite for a tasting, but also not bad. Tbh lives from the interesting backstory about that Cider but there is still room for improvement. Would give a solid 3,5.

Please note: this is a review for the bag in the box variant served in pubs. Goes down smoothly. A little plain in flavour but still delicious. Has a slight chemical taste but is so clean that it's hardly noticeable. A good cider if it's the only one a pub has.

500ml bottle. Clear yellow gold colour, bubbly white head that dissipates away, and aroma of honey & sourish apple. Taste is sweet, honey, toffee, fruity, plus hints of wood & whisky, along with sour apple notes. Slightly syrupy mouthfeel, medium bodied, low carbonation, dryish & sweet appley finish. Quite drinkable.

Somewhat sweet for me but pleasant honey/whisky taste. Curiously, on websites bag-in-box more expensive than Old Rosie or (Gywnt Y Draig) Black Dragon, yet local Wetherspoons sell it considerably cheaper. Maybe they get a special price due to their size?

This is the most amazing cider ever. Very smooth, deceptively strong though.

Refreshing, not overpoweringly sweet, smooth finish, very drinkable. Slight funkiness takes off one star for me.

Updated since I had the still version! Nice sweetness from the whisky barrel. Nice bit of vanilla flavour!

The taste profile is typical of the crisp, smooth ciders in which Thistly Cross specialise, but this has an added complexity from the whisky cask ageing. Slightly drier than the Original and Traditional varieties, this is the strongest of the current Thistly Cross offerings. Comes in a 330 ml bottle.

Semi-sweet and smooth. Definitely having it again!

Thistly Cross Whisky Cask Scottish Cider (6.7% ABV, 500ml). This has been matured in old Glenglassaugh or Glen Moray barrels (sources differ on this) for 6 months. It's the updated version, from the former 6.9% bottle, and they added "Scottish" to the name. 😉 The colour is pale clear yellow. The whisky cask maturation is immediately obvious from the vanilla, oak, and cinnamon in the nose, pushing musty apples into the background. On the palate, dried apples dominate, but the whisky notes from before definitely there, and become more prominent later. Semi-sweet, but still slightly tart. Oak and tannins in the finish for a brief bittersweet moment, before again the vanilla from the barrels and the dried apples dominate the long aftertaste. The barrel maturation definitely adds depth to this cider, and if you don't mind the sweetness, it's very good indeed - and not too heavy, all things considered. 8/10.

Clear pale gold pour with mild carbonation. Strong aroma that reveals hints of apple, whisky, oak, and honey. Taste is lightly tart and semi-sweet with a buttery smoothness. Can taste flavors of light oak, honey, and tart apple on the finish.