Port Wine Of Glastonbury - Hecks - Street, Somerset - Medium Sweet - 6% ABV
Farmhouse style aromas, with a touch of sulphites straight off the bat. Sulphites are normal as they're used to preserve freshness, especially in bottled ciders, as they can be sitting on store/farmhouse shelves or stock rooms for some time before they are sold/shipped out (although, not usually, with me around!). After I poured it out, the sulphites disappeared somewhat and let the apple come to the forefront. I get deep caramel like tastes instantly, following onto classic farmhouse style finish. I think the sweetness masked the flavour a bit as I'm not getting any tannins or acidity to balance this. This isn't unpleasant at all but just a tad sweet for me (and I do have a very sweet tooth too!) There is a nice lingering juiciness at the end which, when I continued to drink it, mellowed the sweetness a little. I can see that it's filtered, so some of the character might have gone in that process, but a pretty strong effort all in all. Proper cider, made by proper Somerset people.