Applewood Farm Smoken Apple

Brewed by Applewood Farm Winery
Style: Ice Cider
Stouffville, Canada

Bottle 鶷ml) shared with some friends. 2005 vintage. Pours a hazy yellow-orange with no head (of course). Very nice smoky, spicy apple aroma. Flavour: So spicy but still very apple-ey -- whoo, I love this! Hot & spicy, oh so very HOT, but surprisingly there’s still a good amount of the apple ice wine that comes through. Syrupy mouthfeel, thick bodied. Wow, what an experience!

Thanks to puzzl for sharing this recently. Deep ruddy amber colour with a lightly cloudy appearance. Aroma is very spicy. Rich hot pepper over a sweet rich apple cider character. Loads of warming spices, clove, black pepper, cinnamon and a rich sweet apple character. The more you smell this, the more intoxicating it becomes. I spent about 15 minutes just swirling and sniffing this. Flavour is also quite lovely. Initially a hit of sweet apple cider, mulling spices follow and then the heat and spiciness hit on the back. Linger hot pepper character with just a kiss of smokiness as well. Light malic acidity that helps cut through everything. Man, this stuff rocks. Eugene doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Bottle from my Secret Santa. Wow, what a beast! This stuff was awesome. It definitely split the camp though, with about half the people loving it and half hating it. I was among the lovers. The aroma is simply out of this world, so fresh and natural, loaded with campfire, cedar, rich smoke, juniper, and all sorts of camping type stuff, with a great finish of hot pepper heat. It comes together brilliantly in one of the most enticing aromas I’ve ever experienced. The flavor is a different story entirely. It starts out sweet and syrupy like an ice cider, but you can feel something lurking underneath. As soon as the liquid leaves the front of the mouth the fire comes out, a scorching though controlled burn that is a pure joy. Definitely hot, but not too hot. Never did I feel like I couldn’t go on. This was harder to drink due to the sweetness of the cider than it was the heat of the peppers. I dig how this bottle was filled with peppercorns and some 10+ hot peppers, as well. A unique treat that I’m thrilled I had the chance to enjoy.

Shared by puzzl (a hot pepper himself). I never rated cooking wine before and I probably wont again. Lets just say 375mL was way too much to go around for 10 people. My portion even had a pepper pop out Aroma is all woodsy and cedar, some moth balls and very medicinal. Taste has has some medicinal qualities as well with a bit of sweetness at the end. Then a huge burst of pepper and heat. Its an experience but not one I want to revisit. I really did not like the aroma but could stand the flavor.

HogTownHarrys bottle - Thanks Harry! App: Still, orange with zero head. Aroma: chartreuse and honey. Flavour: WOW!!!! Black pepper and cider - just superb, really cleared out my nostrils :-) I can also imagine having this as a type of hot toddy or mulled in the winter, just lovely

Sampled at Applewood. Clear deep gold pour, moderately thick-looking, nice legs. There is sweet iced cider in the aroma of this beast somewhere, but it’s mostly capsicum, black pepper, earthy spicy - not your generic no-flavour pepper - earthy and fresh yessir. Taste - VERY hot, and I don’t care for very hot, but I finished my sample and was looking for more - I can see drinking this as a winter warmer, or doing small shots of it - anyway, there is more apple than in the aroma, somewhat acidic behind the sweetness - this stuff really is probably best suited as a marinade, but Matt at Applewood said you can keep it re-corked in the fridge for a few months after opening, so I’ll cook with it AND drink it. I really liked this!

Bronze colour with a chile and a peppercorn in the glass. Huge black pepper nose with a hint of chile. Apple sweetness and massive hot pepper, with a hint of peppercorn. Kind of burly. Not for everyone, but I like it.

Courtesy TheCheeseMan. 2005 vintage. Pours a clear, medium golden color with a thick, still body. Some tasters got whole peppercorns and red chilies in their glass, though I did not. Black pepper sears the nose on the first few whiffs, eventually subsiding a bit to allow fresh, sweet, candied apples to emerge. The flavor is spicy as hell, with the peppercorns and chiles thrashing the tongue up front, and sweet and tangy apples providing a cooling, calming effect in the aft. It has a thick, syrupy body, like an ice cider should. Could make for a nice cooking ingredient. Very interesting in small doses. If nothing else, opening this at a party will certainly spark some conversation. A must try.