8.1

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5

Cans from Shacksbury. Highball @home. Murky green tea gold. Tart, prickly nose. Sour pickle. Sweet kiwi. Soggy flowers. It honestly smells good. Taste is a less intense Sidra. Less off-dirty funk, more saturated apple & plenty of citrus acidity. Just under seriously dry. No rubber, maybe some negligible plastic off flavors. Yeasty, papaya-ish lingering finish. Better than last year's. Prickly, strong carbonation, yeasty feel, parching tacky end. Good.

5.9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Relatively cheap 12 pack direct from Shacksbury. Lowball glass @home. Clear, amber gold. Color is darker than I expected. Bit of a candied pineapple whiff off the top. Sweet juice box apple. Taste is bitter apple, then green apple candy tartness, with a lingering tropical essence alongside that initial bitterness. Maybe a hint of vanilla if it gets warm. Sulfites. Might be in my head. I saw natural flavors listed & now I'm getting all these ideas. I reached out & asked. Will edit when I hear back. Moderate carbonation, not completely dry, touch of yeastiness, feels stronger than the listed 4.2%. Meh. I will admit that a dry, low abv cider that's actually good, seems difficult to make from the outside looking in.

6.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle from the club. A week or so settling in the fridge, since Shacksbury ships some of the bottles upside down. Lots of yeast in the neck to shake loose, paper labels get all torn up, occasional leakage, always an adventure. The cans they ship though, in awesomely secure & innovative, minimalist boxes. Slurped @home in a stemless wine glass. Dark, peachy yellow, still faintly jellied brew. Yeast, cream, wild flowers, apple cider vinegar, wet leaves. Taste at first was very much Sidra. It seemed like it just needed to breathe some. Subdued wild notes give way to a very yeasty/baked still fermenting scrumpy character. It's still juicy sweet, with good acid, but subdued tartness. Light plastic. Lingering leafy bitterness & a smaller vinegar footprint that dries out till there's just intense apple-y acid left in your throat. Carbonation is very meek, almost as if the bottles aren't ready. Chewy, despite the yeast drop, ABV seems on point. Not crazy about it, but it drinks fresh.

5.2

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

Drank 11 of these before I noticed my local was out & FOMO got me to write some notes down. We got a few four packs direct from Shacksbury before these dropped in stores April 2021. So this one has mellowed a tad. Pint glass @home. Most of these drank better straight out the can btw. Purty, clear amber, very lux & meringue head for a cider. Smells of sticky pine, oatmeal, viney weeds, asphalt, buttered toast, old apple sauce. Hops provide an odd, dirty, bitter veggy note, over a dark, macerated subtle apple & corn husk sweetness. When fresh, this was borderline sour hops & onion sweetness. Straight from the can, it's halfway onion, but the carbonation flushes it down so well. The finish slips away, but leaves some residue. It's bitter, but not dry enough to eagerly invite you back. Carbonation falls flat very fast outside the can. Booze hits a little too hard. Hopped a little too aggressively. Hops melted into onion juice too fast. Straight aluminum is frothy & smooth. I enjoyed this with a little age on it, but never in the glass. Meh.

7.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Buttery grape nose. Clear salmon. Sweet apple, grape. Delightful honey finish. Light body, easy csrbonatoon. What a fun cider!

6.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Slightly aged apple nose. Clear amber. Slightly tangy apple but mostly dry. Light bidy, easy carbonation. Good balance. Quaffable.

7

Apple nose. Pink pour. Medium head. Sweet and dry flavor with dry palate. No carbonation.

7

Gold pour. Dry apple, aged tasted flavor. Dry palate. Hint of nut and apple palate.

7.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Can from Crafted. Orange pour only light bubbles. Nose is tart apple and some floral hops. Tastes of white grape, peach, crab apple, florals. Quite dry. Fairly still and some funk.

7

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Clear pale yellow with a small white head. Soft wood and apple. Soft yellow apple a light tannin hit. Not sure I get the Whisky.