Wyld Wood Organic cider review “Fruity, Natural, and Full-bodied” – (7.5/10).
The Good
“Smooth smell”.
“Natural smell”.
“Pleasant full-bodied nature, in taste and aftertaste”.
“Persistently pleasant aftertaste”.
“Medium level of dryness, as would be expected from a good Herefordshire cider”.
“Nice, subtle tang”.
The Bad
“Slight bitterness, lack of sweetness or carbonation”.
“Brand doesn’t advertise it as a medium-dry, when it is”.
Introduction
With UK pubs shut due to the virus from last Friday (20th March 2020), undoubtedly people will be beginning to drink at home now. 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 “Wyld Wood Organic” cider !! (P.s I wrote this review a few years ago and found it in the dusty cupboard of my iPad notes).
Packaging
Wyld wood is an organic cider from Herefordshire. It announces 1880, as the establishment year for Westons cider, showing it’s proud of the brands’ tradition and provenance.
The label shows a man with a cart comprised of an apple, which appears quite a quirky logo. It therefore cleverly shows apples and traditional technology combined, suggesting a natural and traditional taste.
Despite it’s organic nature, and specifying “oak vats”, it doesn’t suggest much about the taste expectations. Firstly, it doesn’t specify a level of dryness to be expected, (unlike Savannah or Henneys), and doesn’t indicate carbonation or sweetness in any way.
Typically ciders from Herefordshire aren’t that abundant in these attributes, so perhaps these expectations, are best left for the imagination. That said, dryness “is” frequently apparent, in Herefordshire products.
The label suggests “Intensely fruity”, suggesting the taste of apple, should come through strongly. I’d anticipate the cider to not be watery, backing up the promise of intense flavour. This also implicates a certain expectation for full-bodied ness.
I am waiting to see if acidity is apparent, since there isn’t mention of the tang level here.
This is from exactly the same location as Capel road, so hopefully will be similar in tang, since that review, was strongly complementary to this trait.
The word “organic”, doesn’t really mean much to me for taste expectation, although perhaps less artificial sweetness, with more natural taste, was what the brand was going for …
The website though, suggests organic means “wildlife friendly”, mainly due to a 10 acre waste management system.
Along with this, the website confirms my suspicions of full bodiedness, in addition to possessing a ripe aroma.
At 6% ABV, the cider is equal to Merrydown in strength, but falls short of Jonathan Blair vintage, and Thatchers Katy, suggesting not an overly strong drink.
Each bottle equates to 3 units for the 500ml, at £1.80 for the bottle. This keeps things quite affordable, if you stick to just the one.
The drink therefore is quite practical, and rather good value …
Smell
An abrupt, but confident fizz emerged from the bottle, unveiling a highly smooth and natural burst of fruity scent. It was in fact highly fruity, and fairly strong. This suggests the organic branding, and the flavour expectations were accurate.
Taste
On tasting, a lovely fruity impression emerged, with a fluffy feel of a good medium dry cider.
The bottles’ tall nature, gave the drink theatre. It announced a couple of clues on each sip. On swirling around my mouth, I got subtle carbonation, with a tangy feel. The acidity was well balanced though, so not particularly noticeable.
The aftertaste wasn’t too dry, yet was smooth. Like with most ciders with a full body, It encouraged me due to the dryness, to take a further sip.
Whilst the bottle specified “oak matured”, until very recently I didn’t fully understand what this meant. Following my testing of the Capel road No. 5 Westons however, I picked up my first impression of “Wood”, from a cider. This was after sampling quite a few cans, on multiple occasion.
On testing this bottle, I didn’t notice any “Oaky” taste, although perhaps after a few bottles, this may have got stronger.
The trouble with the flavour here, was the slight bitter element that dry ciders can sometimes possess. Fortunately, this was very subtle in this cider. Subtle bitterness with full bodiedness, seems a rarity in the world of alcohol, suggesting a high level of product quality here.
The sweetness for me could have been increased, as well as the carbonation. These would enhance the tang from the fruit. The acidity, fruity flavour, and dryness however, were perfect for a medium dry cider from Herefordshire. This I feel, was due to the apples being selected from a farm, near Ledbury. Better branding could have strengthened this point.
Summary
A lovely smelling, medium dry cider, possessing a delightfully natural and fruity taste. It Has a pleasant and subtle tang, and is full-bodied, as advertised. Slightly too bitter for my palette though, and didn’t have the carbonation or sweetness required. The branding should be improved, but the value of the drink is good, and so is practicality.
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Related articles
Capel road No. 5
https://reasea.org/2017/07/09/capel-road-cider-blend-no-5-8-510/
Twisted tree (my woody gold standard review)
Sources
amazon.co.uk ( photo credit)
Tags: wyld wood, woody cider, West Country cider, much Marcle, Ledbury, Herefordshire, organic cider, 6% ABV, merrydown, wildlife, friendly, westons, est. 1880, medium dry, oaky, Savannah, henneys, alcohol, cider, oak vats, 500ml, Capel road, £1.80, reasonedandseasoned, reaseaorg, wyld wood, benandthegang, blogging, reaseaorg
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