L’Hermitière Cidre Demi-Sec

Brewed by Cidrerie Traditionnelle du Perche
Style: Cider
Le Theil-sur-Huisne, France

Serve in Bowl, Flute, Lager glass

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So, It’s a bit of a risk going from a Brut to a Demi-Sec... but I’m really in the mood for Norman cider right now so out of the basement they come!
Pours a pale golden, looks like Champagne with all the tiny bubbles, the rise and fall of the head, etc... you know how this goes. Although with this one there is so much bubbliness, that somehow it’s keeping this consistent small head.. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like that... cool.

The aroma is really something, acidic with lots of cork and musty character, oh my this smells nice. Funky but inviting, very low on apple character, but some apple skin and some oakiness. Wow.

The flavor is indeed a touch sweet, but nothing of what I was bracing myself for, and the finish is basically dry. The flavor is not as intriguing or complex as the aroma, but it has a very nice straightforward fleshy apple character, some light apple skin bitterness, some nice cherry character. The tartness is pleasant and at a fairly moderate level. The more I drink it the more I like the sweetness, it reminds me almost like a soft sweetness the likes of which you find in an Angel-food cake or something like that.

The bubbliness is really very enjoyable, prickly and lively... well fitting for the flavor profile that’s going on here.

750ml bottle. Pours slightly hazy golden yellow with a gigantic frothy white head that dissapates fairly quickly in the glass. A good deal of carbonation in this cider, it’s lively on the tongue. Aroma is lots of barnyard mustiness and farmhouse funkiness, fermenting apples, yeast and woodiness. Really terrific aroma on this cider, it’s just lovely. Taste is mildy sweet apple flesh. Not a lot of tart skins in the taste, more of a medium sweetness you’d associate with flesh/juice of the apples but I guess that’s what you’d expect as this is a demi-sec and not brut cider. You also get slight notes of spice, even though none have been added. A really terrific cider, highly flavorful, easy to drink and the aroma is just wonderful.

Poured at CiderDays 2012. Insane clove and cinnamon aroma, somehow. Amazing that this comes without any spice addition, just the varietals and production. Stays vivacious through the middle with the sweetness adding a good base for the flavors to shine. A quick turn of acid keeps this balance. Very nice.

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy/fizzy, white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy medium to dark yellow. Aroma is moderately yeasty (cobwebs, barnyard/manure, horseblanket), with notes of fresh apples and pears (with skins), oak, apples, brown sugar, black cherry, band-aid, light note of smoke. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, moderately acidic. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, moderately acidic. Medium body, watery texture, lively/fizzy carbonation. Wow! The nose on this thing is outrageously delightful...super clean and chock full of all sorts of elements from the process...fruit, yeast, fermentation effects, etc. And incredibly rich and enticing. Close your eyes. Yes, that’s the smell of black cherries. In a cider without cherries added. Are you fucking kidding me? Beautifully integrated wild yeast, as if the nose is half lambic. Yes, I would prefer this to be less sweet and more tart, but it’s a demi-sec, not a brut, so it’s as advertised. God, I just hope we end up getting some of the brut and poire, ’cause this is master class. Sheesh.

Hazy pale straw. Sustained off-white foam. Alluringly rustic nose comprised of perfume-laden phenols, olive, gunpowder, flowers, barnyard (manure, sun-baked leather, horseblanket), band-aid, lustrous apple must and mild sulfur. Explosive effervescence. Soft prickles. Opens with shimmering florals and fresh apple nectar adorned with drying peppery phenolics. Magnificent balance between the succulence and dryness. Thoroughly satiating lip-smacking nectars coat the lips and provide tremendous length. Artfully layered wild yeast derivatives contribute plenty of horseblanket, perfume and a cottony dryness. Rounded acids gently grace the palate, greatly bolstering drinkability. Dab of lavender and Russian sage complements the sharpness while clinging to the profound ongoing juiciness. Immense barnyard, throughout. Closes dryly with a tongue-numbing band-aid and horseblanket phenolic punch, yet equally sweet with vibrant apple must. Folks who love their ciders fashioned with Old World sensibilities, ought to love this beauty. Very much in the Louis Dupont mold.

750 c&c from The Davis Beer Shoppe. Pours hazy orange gold with a very fizzy/frothy white head. The aroma is very earthy/barnyard with hints of appleskin underneath. Heading towards med body. Flavor is mildly sweet, moderately funky. Quite astringent. Fruit is sort of woody apple or maybe pear. It does not finish wholly dry, but there’s enough stuff to cut the sugar impact way down. This is a pretty good drink.

Gigantic head and an orange colour. Aroma of soft apples and pears. Taste is barnyard funk mixed with pear mostly, slight dry apple finish.