Review of Whitewood’s South Sounder.  Its my first time trying it, but I’ve previously had their Summer Switchel, Kingston Black Whisky Barrel Aged, Red Cap, Gravenstein Old Fangled Series 2012 Harvest, Gravenstein Old Fangled Series Barrel Aged, Northland, Winesap, Gibb’s Farm, and Newtown Pippin.

Cider:  South Sounder
Cidery:  Whitewood
Cidery Location:  Olympia WA
ABV:  6.7%
How Supplied:  750ml bottles
Style:  American craft cider from community sourced apples, with quince added (an astringent & sour fruit that looks similar to a pear)

 

Availability:  Per this list, only in Washington, including Olympia, Seattle, Federal Way, Tacoma, and Eastern Washington.

Cider Description:  Semi-dry cider.  Community sourced apples & quince.  Limited release.  Made exclusively from 2015 harvest apples and quince provided by friends and farms of South Puget Sound.

Cidery Description:  Whitewood Cider is the South Puget Sound’s first craft cidery. Officially we are a nano cider and can be hard to locate. Fear not as you’ll be able to find us at the finest bottles shops as well pubs and and restaurants that are the most dedicated to locally made craft cider.

Too often the word traditional is haphazardly thrown around when it comes to making cider. At Whitewood Cider Company we make hard cider seasonally, as traditional as it gets, just as cider has always been made.

• We pick and press apples in the Autumn as they are ripe and properly sweated out to produce the thickest richest juices possible.
• Our ciders ferment slow all throughout the Winter at the cold ambient temperatures of South Puget Sound
• We rack and blend our ciders in the late Winter and early Spring.
• Curing the late Spring after the ciders have had ample time torest and mature, we rack our cider once more and begin bottling and kegging. 

When it comes to apple selection and cidermaking we have a “no compromise” approach. We believe cidermaking is an art and that the best fruit and the best practices yield the best cider possible.

Whitewood Cider is owned and operated by Dave White (of Old Time Cider) and Heather Ringwood.  Visits to their Olympia Washington cidery are by appointment only.

Price:  $16.25
Where Bought:  Full Throttle Bottles in Seattle WA
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  Browsing.  Its one of the few (only?) ciders I hadn’t tried from Whitewood, so I was game to give it a go.

First Impression:  Medium straw yellow hue.  Nearly still.  Smells of pineapple, mango, and green apple.

Tasting Notes:  Semi-dry.  Medium bodied.  Moderate to high tartness and acidity.  Low bitterness and tannins.  No sourness or funk.  Notes of green apple skin, lemon, pineapple, mango, quince, grapefruit, and hints of floral & herbal.  Moderate length finish.  Low apple flavor.  Moderate sessionability, flavor intensity, and complexity.

My Opinion:  I liked it.  This would especially be a nice summer cider.  Its very tart and fruity and finishes with a bite.

Most Similar to:  Ciders with high tartness & acidity and tropical notes.  Eaglemount Quince, which I think I prefer, as it isn’t as tart.  Besides that the only other cider with quince that I’ve tried is Honey Moon CiderHead Quince, which had less complexity than both the Whitewood and Eaglemount ciders.

Closing Notes:   My favorite Whitewood cider remains the Kingston Black Whisky Barrel Aged, as I prefer richer flavor.  I also really liked Northland and Gibb’s Farm.  I’ll have to see if I can find any more to try from Whitewood!

Have you tried Whitewood South Sounder?  What did you think?