Barrel Aged Cider: how do you like them apples?

If wine is the nectar of the gods, cider is the beverage of choice for forest nymphs and fairies. Ciders dance the fine line between other-worldly and familiar; with some tasting like sweet, childhood memories of slurping down apple juice in the sunshine and others sipping as sinfully complex as any other adult beverage. Recently, I had the privilege of sampling a cider that decidedly fell into the latter category: Kekionga Craft Company’s Barrel Aged Cider. 

I was fortunate to be granted early access to this Cider by being a current member of Kekionga Craft Company’s Quarters Club. Quarterly Cider Club members receive two four-packs of cider four times a year. Ciders go out to members in December, March, June, and September. In addition to delicious ciders, club members get the added perk of a 10% discount on all regular cider shipments. 

As a Quarters Club member, in December I received a batch of their special Sugar Plum winter cider. (A personal favorite and an excellent addition to any winter holiday celebration! Highly recommended, from me to you.)  Along with that, I got a pack of their Barrel Aged Cider, which only recently became available to the general public. Upon first sip, my initial reaction was a literal and audible, “Wow!” Now that this cider is available on tap at Kekionga, you can taste it and say, “Wow!” too–or whatever you want to say, I’m not the boss of you.

Made from their proprietary blend of apples and aged in a Hotel Tango bourbon barrel for eight months, you’ll never mistake this cider for apple juice. While this cider is only 6.9% ABV, the barrel aging lends an extra boozy quality to this blend–as well as additional notes of vanilla and butterscotch. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is a sweet cider. It may be made with apples, but this ain’t your kiddo’s apple juice box. On a scale of sweet to dry, this cider is about as dry as a tea-totaller in a desert drought. In a blind tasting, I could easily mistake this for a barrel aged beer. I’d consider this cider more of a sipper than a slurper; and, personally, I’d much rather slowly savor a single snifter of this cider than knock back several. The flavor is decidedly complex and grown-up. Get out to Kekionga and sip some before it’s gone–assuming it’s not gone already as I was very slow to get this posted. Unlike this cider, my posts don’t all age extremely well.