The Good
“Fairly practical”.
“Good value”.
“Tangy smell”.
“Light carbonation”.
“Balanced”.
“No bitterness”.
“Session-able”.
“Natural taste”.
“Natural sweetness adequate”.
“Smooth”.
“Aftertaste not unpleasant”.
The Bad
“Basic brand message “.
“Plain bottle design”.
“Not full flavoured”.
“Weak acidity”.
“No dryness”.
“No USP”.
“Mouthfeel quite thin”.
Introduction
Having been away for 2 years from blogging I am happy to say I am back and ready to begin reviewing regularly again. I’ve missed you all, and hope you’ll continue reading my future posts. Thank you.
Packaging
Commemorating the founding year of Weston’s cider, this vintage was purchased at Asda for £2.75. It provides 4.7 units from 750ml at 6.2% ABV. This is a little above the recommended alcohol units for men per day but since you only need one bottle it is fairly practical.
Whilst it’s more pricey than the Weston’s “British vintage” as recorded in 2020, it provides more fluid in the bottle, so value wise it’s actually slightly better.
In terms of brand message this is rather simple as an anniversary style celebration claiming “one of the finest vintage ciders of our time”.
The bottle design to me is a bit plain. Yes it has some blue, but it doesn’t excite me. Let’s get into the taste expectations.
Taste expectations
The bottle suggests “sweet and oaky notes”, so I’d expect some woodiness and character here, along with non sickly but adequate sweetness. It also states smooth and silky which hints of a flavour profile which isn’t harsh in terms of tang or dryness. With the assertion of medium, I’d expect this to be at least medium in terms of dryness. With a small head having emerged following a walk home with it in my bag I’d expect some fizz, albeit not too much. As for acidity, I’ll go in blind as this isn’t stated on the bottle.
Smell
The smell straight away hit me with a fairly strong tanginess. It lasted fairly well and persisted at a lower level on subsequent inhalations.
Taste
Carbonation was light, and on the first sip there was no real punch of acidity or sweetness, therefore things opened rather well, if a bit lacklustre. Mouthfeel was a little thin and the flavour fullness wasn’t full at all really. The drink was slightly watery, and didn’t seem to pack much of a punch. The flavour was at least natural, and not negative in any way.
As for a medium dry this certainly didn’t give me much of a dry feel which was a bit disappointing. It was however smooth throughout the taste and the aftertaste. The aftertaste didn’t emerge separately, it was just a subtle continuation of the taste.
Since nothing was overpowering, the balance of the drink was rather good. There was also no bitterness.
As I drank more, I realised the strength wasn’t in its tang, but in the taste of natural apple. I’d suggest there is some natural sweetness here disguised under the taste of fruit.
The non overpowering taste made the drink seem nicely session-able, albeit you wouldn’t need another due to the large bottle size. There was no USP as it did most things okay but nothing as a stand out performance.
The mouthfeel was a little thin.
Summary
“Natural, but dull”.
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Food for thought
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8) Why was that your favourite moment?
Closing statement
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Tags: cider, asda, blogging, reviews, reaseaorg, reasonedandseasoned, Weston’s, Henry Weston, medium cider, West Country, 1880
Tags 2: cider, asda, blogging, reviews, reaseaorg, reasonedandseasoned, Weston’s, Henry Weston, medium cider, West Country, 1880
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Reasonedandseasoned 