Review of Angry Orchard’s Spiced Apple, their newest limited release cider, with pie spices, only available in their winter variety pack.

>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by  Angry Orchard.  Although I will take care to treat it the same as any other review, there is always the potential for bias as I received it for free.  The only consideration I knowingly made was pushing this up in my cider review cue.  I love free stuff, especially cider!  Want your cider or cider-related product reviewed here?  Contact me.<<

Cider:  Spiced Apple
Cidery:  Angry Orchard
Cidery Location:  Walden NY (their R&D facility)
Cider Production Locations:  Cincinnati OH & Breingsville PA
ABV:  5.0%
How Supplied:  12 pack of 12oz bottles
Style:  American commercial cider made from dessert apple varieties, with pie spices

 

 

Availability:  January thru April, wide release, in the Winter Orchard Sampler Variety Pack (with Crisp Apple, Easy Apple, Stone Dry, Green Apple, Tapped Maple, and Spiced Apple)

Cider Description:  Angry Orchard Spiced Apple was Inspired by the spices in this classic dessert and connection to the American cider making tradition. This hard cider achieves its balanced profile by combining bright and festive warming spices and a blend of culinary and bittersweet apples. This new limited release style is perfect for evenings with friends and family during the last months of winter.

Apple Varieties:  Pacific Northwest dessert varieties (Braeburn, Fuji, Granny Smith, and Gala French)

Ingredients:  hard cider, water, cane sugar, apple juice concentrate, malic acid, natural flavor, carbon dioxide, sulfites

Price:  n/a (but retails for $15.99-$18.99 / 12 pack variety pack)
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  n/a

First Impression:  Light amber hue.  Still (no carbonation).  Smells of sweet concentrated apple with pie spices.

Tasting Notes:  Semi-sweet to sweet.  Medium bodied.  Low tartness.  Moderate acidity.  No sourness, bitterness, funk, or tannins.  Notes of concentrated apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, and honey.  Moderate length finish.  Moderate apple flavor.  Moderate flavor intensity.  High sessionability.  Low complexity.  Moderate spice intensity.

My Opinion:  This is a pretty typical sweet spiced cider, which isn’t one of my favorite styles.  I didn’t find any faults with it though.

Most Similar to:  Most spiced ciders I’ve had have been drier, like Elemental Seasonal Spiced Apple, 2 Towns Nice & Naughty, Carlton Cyderworks Sugar and Spice, Sonoma Cider The Sleigh, and AEppelTreow Sparrow Spiced.  D’s Wicked Baked Apple was on-par with this one as far as sweetness, but was more baked apple than spiced.

Closing Notes:  Angry Orchard still appears to carry their Cinnful Apple, which is a fall seasonal, while this is a one-off only available in this winter’s variety pack.

Have you tried Angry Orchard Spiced Apple?  What did you think?