Henry Westons Medium Dry “Organic” cider review “Woody and tangy. Distinctive, but not exceptional”- (9.25/10).
The Good
“Lots of woody character”.
“Distinctive USP”.
“Good value”.
“Practical”.
“Helpful bottle design and backstory”.
“Distinctive orange label”.
“Plenty of tang”.
“Woody and natural smell”.
“Natural taste”.
“Well balanced, as promised”.
“Some natural sweetness”.
“Delightful medium mouthfeel”.
“Full flavour throughout taste”.
“Smooth throughout”.
“Pleasant aftertaste”.
The Bad
“Limited carbonation”.
“Lacking a little dryness”.
“Not quite enough sweetness”.
Introduction
With UK pubs shut due to the virus from (Friday 20th March 2020), undoubtedly people will be beginning to drink at home soon. Whilst entertainment is an important buddy of drink, choice of drink can also greatly improve your leisure time; Otherwise, it can severely ruin it, if you select a horrible wine or cider. Thanks to our cider reviews though, you can pick the cider that is right for you. Remember to combine cider shopping with other essentials, to reduce your risk and stay safe guys.
Also, rumour has it the virus doesn’t like alcohol… Waheey
Reasea.org have responded to the crisis, by upping our posts to 2 per week (Wednesday and Fridays), keeping your self-isolated eyes entertained.
Enter “Henry Westons Medium dry “Organic” cider !!
Packaging
It’s been a while since my last Henry Westons review. I thought they had stopped producing new creations. Suddenly though, 3 new ciders have crept onto the range this March.
One of these is a new addition to the “Medium dry” range. This will be the 4th drink described by its name as Henry Westons “Medium dry”.
Todays’ brand new Henry Westons medium dry “Organic” cider, has yet to be added to the official Westons’ website. This suggests its very recent incorporation into the range. It’s fellow newbies include Henry Westons “Medium dry” Cloudy Vintage, and finally Henry Westons Vintage Rosé.
My recent Rose reviews have been especially popular, and on trend, so I’ll look forward to trying that new offering in due course.
I shall now refer to Henry Westons “Medium dry” Organic cider, as simply “Organic”.
So what does “Organic” mean for cider ?
I have previously reviewed 4 drinks which share this “Organic” title. One of which, called Wyld wood, is also produced on Westons’ Much Marcle farm site, in Herefordshire. Today’s medium dryness will be mentioned again, under taste expectations below.
In this review, I mentioned how the waste management system employed, is wildlife friendly. It also “more specifically”, often refers to a guarantee made by the soil association.
This soil association accreditation means the cider can be traced back to the farm on which the apples are grown, thereby offering the “highest standards of sustainability and integrity”. This is great to know, especially with the current onus on humans, to protect their rapidly changing environment. For further details of what organic accreditation means, see my “Dunkertons Black fox” cider review below, on link 1, in sources.
So in terms of price and practicality …500ml, 6%, and 3 units, hits the lower end of the Governments’ “Do not regularly exceed limit”. This makes the drink good value and practical.
In relation to good value, needing just the one bottle for a healthy session, means a modest spend of £2.09 from Waitrose.
Whilst the bottle backstory doesn’t detail Westons’ extensive history, the assertions of “Oak matured”, in combination with “Organic”, infers a distinctive drink.
So in terms of taste expectations …
Medium dryness is specified in the drinks’ name, and in the taste profile on the bottles’ reverse label. In combination with this, is the assertion of “Oak matured”. This suggests some woody character, should also be expected. This will be gauged according to Twisted tree cider, which remains my reference point for “Woodiness”.
The bottle specifies on taste descriptions: “Honey and apples”, suggesting a sweet smell, which also is natural and fruity.
The finish is described as “Rich and Balanced”, suggesting a balanced taste and aftertaste. This also implies “Full flavour” on both taste and aftertaste. When taken together, the “Rich” and “Honey” descriptors, suggest the wood will be complemented with plenty of natural sweetness, in the main flavour of the drink.
In addition to this, the taste is promised as “Fruity”, suggesting a natural drink which represents the Apple well.
Hopefully this won’t fall down like my previously reviewed “Brothers toffee apple cider”, in which the apple clearly wasn’t the main component.
Smell
The smell comes across immediately, as a moderate strength aroma. One that persists, for some time.
It possesses a certain tang, suggesting acidity in the taste. You certainly get the feel of wood, for the majority of the scent. This is reassuring, supporting the assertion of “Oak matured”. You also get fainter scents of fresh apple, which bodes well for natural sweetness.
Despite the lack of fizz, the scent is still detectable, after a long while.
Taste
The level of carbonation is light as expected, since this wasn’t mentioned in taste expectations. This should have been increased though. On first sip, plenty of tang could clearly be sensed. The taste felt natural too, on first impressions.
On subsequent sips, the woodiness became clearer. This was certainly present, throughout tasting.
Whilst sweetness was hard to detect independently, the natural fruit in the taste, alluded well to this. The sweetness was very nicely balanced with tang. The balance was therefore good, as promised. If I was being supercritical though, the sweetness could have been increased a little.
Due to full flavour, the mouthfeel was certainly sufficient, and could be described as medium.
The flavour remained very stable, throughout tasting. It lasted well as “Woody”, only fading slightly into a sweeter, thinner experience. After this, it tempted me to swallow, suggesting a certain element of subtle dryness. This dryness was a little hard to detect though, especially for the bottles’ assertion of “Medium dryness”. More would be nice.
The experience was very smooth throughout the entirety of the taste, and aftertaste. This smoothness, combined with medium mouthfeel, made the drink very session-able.
Summary
Woody and tangy. Distinctive, but not exceptional.
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Other Henry Weston’s “Medium dry” reviews
- Henry Weston’s “Medium dry” aged finish (2017) cider review
- Henry Westons’ ” Medium dry” oak aged vintage 2016
https://reasea.org/2017/08/16/henry-westons-medium-dry-oak-aged-vintage-2016-8-2510/
- Henry Westons’ “Medium dry” Signature Vintage
Tags: Henry Westons, westons, oak matured, medium dry, aged finish, oak aged vintage, 1880, much Marcle, Ledbury, Herefordshire, reaseaorg, reasonedandseasoned, 6.0% ABV, 3.0 units, 500ml, Organic, orange label, twisted tree, woody cider, cloudy vintage, £2.09, Waitrose, benandthegang, signature, richandbalanced, Coronavirus, medium mouthfeel,
Sources
Reasea.org
Reasonedandseasoned 