Review of Magners Original Irish Cider. Its my first time trying it oddly enough (I had never got around to it).
Cider: Original Irish Cider
Cidery: Magners (C&C Group)
Cidery Location: County Tipperary in Ireland
ABV: 4.5%
How Supplied: four pack of 12oz bottles
Style: commercial Irish cider
Availability: wide release (over 50 countries)
Description: We love making cider, but we reckon there’s only one way to do it properly. That’s why we’re still taking inspiration from the historic methods we used when we started making cider back in 1935. That’s part of the Magners taste. So in this way we use 17 varieties of apples, waiting until they drop before pressing and filtering them in the traditional way. We take time to ferment the cider and even more time to let it mature, up to 2 years in fact, tasting it along the way. Sure, there are faster ways of making cider, but then it wouldn’t be Magners.
Price: ~ $1.50 / single bottle
Where Bought: Total Wine
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing. I realized I had never tried Magners, which is often one of the first ciders people try.
First Impression: Fake orange amber hue. Nearly still. Smells of apple juice and a fake chemical scent.
Tasting Notes: Semi-sweet to semi-dry. Medium bodied. Low tartness and acidity. Hints of bitterness and tannins. No sourness or funk. The notes didn’t go too beyond apple, with a touch of caramel. Quick finish. Moderate to high apple flavor. High sessionability. Low flavor intensity. Low complexity.
My Opinion: It was what I was expecting…simple and fake tasting. It was drier than I was expecting, but that is more typical for European ciders (vs. American commercial ciders).
Most Similar to: Other commercial ciders, although this had a bit of English cider twist with the hints of bitterness and tannins.
Closing Notes: Now I can finally say I’ve tried Magners. I don’t really get why this sells so well, but I guess its easy to drink.
Have you tried Magners? What did you think?
Cider Says 
Agreed, horrible fake chemical taste that makes me think that the only reason it’s popular is due to intense marketing.
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Mass market British Isles ciders like Magners, Strongbow, Thatchers etc. are infinitely better tasting than mass market Canadian ciders like Okanagan and Growers. So for me when I approach Magners from the “I want a normal pint of cider” mindset, it suits me nicely. If I approach it from a scrumpy, vintage, aged, weird cider kind of perspective, then it tastes dull and boring. Hey ho, I’d rate it 3/5!
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I tried Magners Pear.
Horrible fake taste like water+сіtric acid+CO2
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Magners is awsome as we live in Canada and it’s hard to find cider on tap so thanks to magners I can drink cider on tap
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I’ve only ever had it on tap and have always liked it.
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Glad to hear a cider specialist also thinks it tastes of chemicals.
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Huge Cider fan but this Irish apple Cider is terrible. How this even goes out the door of their factory I don’t know
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I adore this cider! It is the only drink I drink. Bottles only though. All others are too sweet and taste like apple juice. I’m not 5 years old! It’s perfect IMO. Always keep 10 cases on hand.
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I couldn’t disagree more. I’ve been drinking hard ciders for more than 30 years . Having lived in Australia and England, the options were plentiful unlike the USA until relatively recently so I got a real taste for cider in those years in the 90s. When I relocated to the states, as more cider offerings turned up, I tried to taste as much as I could from micro to larger brands. My preference is for a dry cider but I’ve had mixed luck here. My faces remain Magners and Sam Smith. Have no idea what the chemical taste you refer to is but the only thing I’d ding it for would be the coloring provided that rose blush is added.
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