8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
‘Zure kriek’ made with Gorsem cherries and flavoured with tarragon, a creation from Pellicle, the home blending (but professional) project of Bruges resident Mathieu Dupont. Poured by Mathieu himself at Wild Festival Groningen 2023. Dense yet open, pale pinkish, moussy head, clear deep ruby red robe with dark blood-like red glow. Aroma of a ton of fresh and bursting ripe Gorsem cherries, cherry wine, cherry pits, even some cherry jam, tarragon subtly but harmoniously piercing through, redcurrant, sour yoghurt, lime juice, cooked plum, vanilla- and almond-like hints from wood and cherry pits, swimming pool. Crisp, sharpish sour cherry, utterly juicy and filling the mouth with both astringent tartness and fleshy fruitiness – even a certain underlying ripe cherry sweet note; medium carb, full body in which the sheer density and fleshiness of the cherries adds body. Drying lactic acid merges with the fruit’s acids and, further on, with the tannic effects from the wood and cherry pits, returning their almond and vanilla accents – right before indeed the tarragon hits, but it hits softly and gently, more so than I was expecting; it is, however, very clearly present and for some reason matches extremely well with the sour cherries. Not the clashing flavours I was expecting a bit, instead everything comes together perfectly in a dry yet juicy, long, tart, noble, woody finish – Pellicle really manages to link herbs to fruit like few others, and does so in a highly elegant, gracious way. Strange that this blendery does not enjoy the same degree of hype as e.g. Antidoot, Bokke or Bofkont, they are just as good (at least based on the few creations I had the pleasure to taste so far), but perhaps it is better that way – I do not like hypes…
Tried
on 25 Oct 2023
at 13:39