Henry of Harcourt Kingston Black

Brewed by Henry of Harcourt Orchardists & Cidermakers
Style: Cider
Harcourt, Victoria, Australia

Serve in Flute, Lager glass

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Bottle-conditioned, clear and quite dark - orangey-amber almost like a pale tea colour. There seems to be some cross-contamination with Bress here I suspect; this was quite reminiscent of their cider. Floral violet, lavender and lemon juice with a touch of licheny mushroom stuff. The aroma seems generated more by the yeast than the fruit (though there’s a touch of supermarket apple juice,) but it’s pretty good nonetheless. The fizz gets in the road of the flavours somewhat, and I think to really showcase the fruit character it would’ve been better still. It’s pretty well-balanced, skewed towards tannin and away from acid with a nice, tight, almost toasty, caramelly fruit character without any real sweetness, though it’s not exceptionally dry. It’s tannic to the point of bitterness, but in a good way. Subtly soapy, menthol alcohol character, but it’s not particularly obtrusive, especially considering the ABV. But I think that’s the problem - it just doesn’t have anywhere near as much guts as you’d expect from something so strong (the obvious comparison being to Thorogoods of course.) It does strike me as a touch young though. I think it will improve with a bit of age. In a sense this was a disappointment for me because of my own high expectations, but it was quite enjoyable nonetheless.

Delightful golden colour that maintains a nice little bit of a head which is unusual for a cider. Smells pretty average. Certainly complex. I get some apple in there, some sour fruits and some earthy notes. The bad part is the overly harsh ammonia, dill, pepper and aniseed notes. They are way too prominent and harsh for the balance of this aroma and frankly are fairly off putting. Taste is a little better. I get some juicy apples and sweetness, followed by a good amount of tannic bitterness and some tartness. However that absurd peppery note is still there. I have no idea what kingston black apples taste like but compared to ciders like Thorogoods this has a total lack of sophistication and depth of flavour. I like the mouthfeel for this kind of cider, if I can forget about the taste/aroma for a minute. Its viscous enough to support the sweetness but never cloying. I would not recommend buying this. Instead save 5 dollars and buy a thorogoods cider. They are attempting a similar thing to this and achieving it so much better.

Henry’s premium offering, a single variety cider made from Kingston Black apples. Lachan has the colour descriptor bang on - ornage / amber / apricot. Firm, serious nose of minerals, talcum powder, a hint of musk (lavender pehaps?), chalky...you get the picture. Almost riesling like. Perfumed and light musk confectionary flavours run through the palate early but quickly fall behind some reaonably fierce alcohol and sharp acid. Not rough in any sense but you are left in no doubt that this is a 11%+ drink. Sour citrus fruits kick though in the second half, with a hint of aniseed, driving a long finish. Some ABV heat lingers. Not a drink to take lightly.