Thistly Cross Cider

Cidery in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Established in 2008

Contact
The Works, Implement Rd, West Barns, Dunbar, EH42 1UN, Scotland
Description
Hello, we’re Thistly Cross, Scotland’s award winning farmhouse ciders, born out of a passion for making cider in the best possible way, combined with belief in the quality of Scottish produce, and asking ‘why not?’. Established as a collaboration between farmer, Ian Rennie, and artist-turned-cidermaker, Peter Stuart, in 2008, Thistly Cross has gained a reputation for making ciders that people rave about.

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7.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

Clear honey golden. Caramel, green apples, oak barrel, candy sugar, hints of scotch whisky. Fruity sweetness, mild dry sourness. Medium bodied, oily texture, soft carbonated, dry fruity finish with some scotch oak barrel notes. A quite heavy cider, tasty, balanced with some nice barrel aging notes.

Tried from Bottle on 10 Jan 2026 at 21:58


6.8

Tried from Cask on 19 Dec 2025 at 18:54


6.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Flasche 0,5l: Helles Gold, klar, wenig Schaum; frische + fruchtige Nase, recht süß, leichte fruchtige Säure, Äpfel, süßer Apfelsaft, trockene Eichenaromen; fruchtiger Körper, deutliche Süße, leichte fruchtige Säure, reife Äpfel, süßer Apfelsaft, spritzig, moderate Kohlensäure, trockene Eichenaromen; fruchtig-trockener Nachgang

Tried from Bottle on 06 Sep 2025 at 15:19


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Festival pint (20 oz) draft at Ryries at Haymarket Station, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a crystal clear light gold color with zero retention or lacing. Strangely, not much apple aroma. Sweet apple cider flavor and not much else. Smooth and clean. It's thin like most ciders. Lower carbonation than I expected. Zero bitterness. Very refreshing. Definitely not beer.

Tried from Draft at Ryrie’s Bar on 29 Aug 2025 at 12:55


4.9
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 5

EB - Can 330ml. @ [ Petalax 🇫🇮 💻👀 Virtual Tasting ] - fonefan & Brugmansia House. 🏡🇩🇰 ☀️ 🐝🦋 [ As Thistly Cross Original ]. ABV: 6.2%. [20250822]. 5/2/5/-3/10

Tried from Can on 23 Aug 2025 at 08:08


4.5
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 4.5 | Flavor - 4.5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 4.5

Sample, thanks oh6gdx! Clear pale yellow, minimal head. Aroma of sweet apple juice and cabbage. Sweet with light body and rounded mouthfeel, Sugary apples, a hint of funk. Slight bitterness.

Tried on 12 Aug 2025 at 21:07


6.5

Tried on 12 Aug 2025 at 17:37


6

Clear, reddish color and a White head. Nose of sweet fruits. Refreshing. Taste of strawberry and black currant. Sweet, but Not artifical. yeah,.quite OK

Tried from Bottle on 19 Jul 2025 at 17:01


5
Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 5

A clear golden colour, no head. Aroma of intense ginger and sweet apples. Taste of sweet juicy apples, ginger, sugar.

Tried from Bottle on 06 Jul 2025 at 13:01


5.4
Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 5.5 | Flavor - 5.5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 5.5

Pale yellow colour, small quickly vanishing head. Aroma is floral, some apple mild wood and some sugary elements. Flavour is sugary, some floral, some apple, mild fructose too. Macroish.

Tried from Can from Alko (Webshop) on 01 Jul 2025 at 16:32