Mitten

Virtue Cider The Mitten

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Review of Virtue Cider’s The Mitten.  I’ve tried this cider twice previously (see review #1 and review #2), but in a 750ml bottle.  Virtue’s most popular cider is now available in a four pack of 12oz bottles (along with Michigan Brut and Michigan Harvest; see this press release).  I’ve also previously tried their Cherry Mitten and Lapinette.

>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by Virtue.  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.<<

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Cider:  The Mitten
Cidery:  Virtue Cider
Cidery Location:  Fennville MI
ABV:  6.8%
How Supplied:  four pack of 12oz bottles (and 750ml bottles and kegs)
Style:  American craft cider from Michigan apples, bourbon barrel aged

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Availability:  Year round in DE, GA, FL, IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, WA, and WI, per this list

Cider Description:  The Mitten, which was first released in 2013, is made with cider from 100% Michigan apples that has been aged for 11 months in 200 bourbon barrels from Wild Turkey, Jim Beam, and Heaven Hill.  We taste through each and every barrel before we move to final blending.  The aged cider is then blended together with juice from freshly pressed apples from this year’s harvest for a touch of sweetness.  The result is a 6.8% ABV semi-dry cider that shows off a balanced blend of charred bourbon and high-acid apple flavors.  Pronounced notes of vanilla and wood mingle with overripe apple, and maple flavors create a farm feel.

More info here.

Cidery Description:  Virtue Cider is a Michigan-based craft cider company.  We produce European-style ciders from fresh apples – never from concentrate – and employ traditional farmhouse production methods that include native and secondary fermentation, use of wild yeasts, and an expansive barrel aging program.

They have a tasting room in Fennville Michigan; see here.

Price:  n/a (retails for $13.99)
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  the cidery’s press release

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First Impression:  Medium straw yellow hue.  Nearly still (very low carbonation).  Smells mild, of honey and oak.

Tasting Notes:  On the sweeter side of semi-dry.  Light to medium bodied.  Low tartness.  Low to moderate acidity.  Hints of bitterness and tannins.  No sourness or funk.  Notes of honey, lemon, oak, bourbon, vanilla, and white grape.  Low apple flavor.  Moderate sessionability.  Low oak/barrel influence.  Low spirit/bourbon influence.  Moderate flavor intensity.  Moderate complexity.

My Opinion:  I’m a fan!  This also seemed less harsh than the previous versions – my favorite so far.  Usually I prefer a really intense cider, but for this one, I preferred it less so.  This is a more sessionable barrel aged cider, which is nice.

Most Similar to:  2 Towns The Bad Apple and Big B’s Grizzly Brand Bourbon Barrel Aged

Closing Notes:  I think this will be a hit.  It is a great deal too, at less than half the price per ounce vs. the 750ml bottle prices I’ve seen.

Have you tried Virtue The Mitten?  What did you think?

Virtue Cider Cherry Mitten

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Review of Virtue Cider’s Cherry Mitten, a cherry version of their The Mitten bourbon barrel aged cider made using only Michigan apples.  Virtue sent me a sample bottle of this along with some swag and a replacement bottle of their regular Mitten cider (which I reviewed here), as from my original review they suspected it had refermented.

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>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by Virtue Cider.  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:  Cherry Mitten
Cidery:  Virtue Cider
Cidery Location:  Fennville MI
ABV:  6.5%
How Supplied:  750ml green champagne bottle, capped
Style:  American craft bourbon barrel aged cider made from culinary & heirloom apples, Michigan cherries, and Ale yeast

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Availability:  Very limited release of only 300 bottles (in Michigan in their tasting room only), plus a few kegs made it to Chicago IL (including Cider Summit).  However, in general, Virtue cider may be available in GA, MD, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PN, RI, VA, VT, IL, ID, KY, MI, MN, OH, WI, CA, OR, WA, & TX.

Cider Description:  When the leaves fall, there’s a chill in the air and the evening greedily takes hours from daylight, we stand strong and embrace the wintertime. It’s a time of rich foods, roaring fires and our favorite sweaters. Drinks change from refreshing to intense and satisfying. The Mitten is a Winter cider, a blend of last seasons best, aged in bourbon barrels, with the new season’s fresh pressed apple juice. Straight cider, aged for 3 seasons, finds notes of vanilla, caramel and charred American oak, balanced with the best of the orchard, over-ripe apples and their sweet, tart, earthy juice. Many barrels are filled, but only a small portion, the very smoothest, will find their way into The Mitten. We love wintertime, especially when we have The Mitten to keep us warm and happy through the long, cold night.

See Virtue’s info page on the regular version of this cider.  For the cherry version, they added tart cherries from their next door neighbor’s 80 acre cherry farm, and described the cider as having a mild acetic finish.

Cidery Description:  Virtue Farm is located in Southwest Michigan, part of the state’s thriving Cider Coast.  Michigan’s Cider Coast boasts 200 miles of apple orchards, changing leaves, and stunning vistas best enjoyed with a glass of crisp cider. All along the coast, great cider being made by a bevy of wonderful cider makers, all working hard to revive dozens of varieties of heirloom apples ideal for juicing and fermenting.  Virtue Cider is proud to be part of this burgeoning revival of an important Michigan tradition.

They have a tasting room.  Also see this page on their barrel aging program.

Price:  n/a (probably retails for $20+)
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  n/a

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First Impression:  Bright cherry hue.  Very low carbonation upon pouring.  Smells sour with hints of cherry, yeast, and apples.

Tasting Notes:  Semi-dry.  Mild to moderate sourness and tartness.  Moderate acidity.  No bitterness, funk, or tannins.  Frothy mousse-like mouthfeel.  Light bodied.  Mild cherry flavor, but also some citrus, honey, vinegar, and floral notes.  Long sour finish at the back of the palate.  Low apple influence.  Low sessionability.

My Opinion:  I can see the appeal of this cider (which is a true sour cherry, not tart cherry), but I’m just not a fan of sour ciders.  For some reason they seem to overwhelm my palate and I have a touch time detecting or appreciating much else about them.  My husband enjoyed this more than I did and gladly finished the bottle, but it was a bit sour even for him.  I’m surprised how often I see reviews of ciders I found sour which don’t even mention that fact, so there is definitely a disclaimer on this review that the sourness may not be nearly as significant for other folks.

Also note that often the terms sour and tart are used interchangeably, but I find them quite different.  Tart is much more common and hits more forward on the palate (green apple and citrus are examples), while sour is lingering and hits further back on the palate (its common with Spanish Sidra, certain English & French ciders, and wild fermented ciders).

Most Similar to:  I’ve had a number of cherry ciders, such as from Woodchuck, Washington Gold, Locust, Elemental, Tieton, Jester & Judge, Julian, and Original Sin, but none were sour.  I’ve heard of Reverend Nat’s Sacrilege Sour Cherry, but haven’t tried it.

Closing Notes:  I’m glad I got to try this cider, especially as its such a limited release.  Hopefully I’ll get to try more ciders from Virtue in the future.

Have you tried Virtue Cider Cherry Mitten?  What did you think?

Virtue The Mitten Bourbon Barrel Aged Cider – 2014 Harvest

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Review of Virtue Cider’s The Mitten, a bourbon barrel aged cider made using only Michigan apples.  I previously reviewed a prior release of this cider (see here), which must have been their 2012 or 2013 harvest release.  Virtue contacted me saying I may have had a bad bottle that re-fermented, and wanted to send a replacement.  They also sent a bottle of their new Cherry version of this cider and some sweet swag.

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>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by Virtue Cider.  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:  The Mitten
Cidery:  Virtue Cider
Cidery Location:  Fennville MI
ABV:  6.8%
How Supplied:  750ml green champagne bottle, capped (also available in kegs)
Style:  American craft bourbon barrel aged cider made from culinary & heirloom apples and Ale yeast

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Even the bottle is quite different from the last one I tried…it includes Nutrition Facts (a rarity with craft cider), and white shrink wrap around the top.  The shrink wrap was quite an annoyance, but I assume it better protects the cap from letting air in but I learned it was only an extra precaution for shipping, so you’re unlikely to see it.

Availability:  Limited release, winter seasonal.  Virtue cider may be available in GA, MD, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PN, RI, VA, VT, IL, ID, KY, MI, MN, OH, WI, CA, OR, WA, & TX.

Cider Description:  When the leaves fall, there’s a chill in the air and the evening greedily takes hours from daylight, we stand strong and embrace the wintertime. It’s a time of rich foods, roaring fires and our favorite sweaters. Drinks change from refreshing to intense and satisfying. The Mitten is a Winter cider, a blend of last seasons best, aged in bourbon barrels, with the new season’s fresh pressed apple juice. Straight cider, aged for 3 seasons, finds notes of vanilla, caramel and charred American oak, balanced with the best of the orchard, over-ripe apples and their sweet, tart, earthy juice. Many barrels are filled, but only a small portion, the very smoothest, will find their way into The Mitten. We love wintertime, especially when we have The Mitten to keep us warm and happy through the long, cold night.

See Virtue’s info page on this cider.

Cidery Description:  Virtue Farm is located in Southwest Michigan, part of the state’s thriving Cider Coast.  Michigan’s Cider Coast boasts 200 miles of apple orchards, changing leaves, and stunning vistas best enjoyed with a glass of crisp cider. All along the coast, great cider being made by a bevy of wonderful cider makers, all working hard to revive dozens of varieties of heirloom apples ideal for juicing and fermenting.  Virtue Cider is proud to be part of this burgeoning revival of an important Michigan tradition.

They have a tasting room.  Also see this page on their barrel aging program.  The barrel aged portion of this cider was aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels at least 9 months.

Price:  n/a (retails for $20+)
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  n/a

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First Impression:  Straw yellow hue.  Very low carbonation upon pouring.  Smells of apple, yeast, citrus, oak, and sourness.

Tasting Notes:  Semi-dry.  Nearly still.  Light to medium bodied.  Moderate acidity.  Mild to moderate tartness.  Hints of bitterness, tannins, and sourness.  No funk.  Notes of citrus, floral, oak, yeast, honey, and vanilla.  Slightly wine-like (interesting as its made with beer yeast).  Moderate length finish.  Mild apple flavor.  Moderate sessionability.  Very low barrel influence.  No detectable bourbon influence.

This varied quite a bit from my previous review of a different release (which the cidery suspected had refermented).  That one had high carbonation (frothy and almost mousse-like), moderate bitterness, no sourness, and notes of ripe apple, bourbon, vanilla, oak, and caramel.  This time there wasn’t nearly as much barrel & spirit influence and I didn’t pick up the caramel flavor, but it was also lacking the bitterness I wasn’t a fan of.

My Opinion:  The two releases were quite different.  There were elements of each I liked and didn’t like.  Specifically, the texture and stronger bourbon & oak barrel flavor in the earlier release and the lack of bitterness in this release.  Overall I definitely enjoyed this cider, but same as previously, it didn’t really knock my socks off as much as it did for some other reviewers, such as Cider Journal and the Not So Professional Beer Blog.  Every person and palate is different though.

Most Similar to:  This one was unique as I picked up a wide variety of flavor notes, but I found some similarities to 2 Towns The Bad Apple.

Closing Notes:  I’m glad I got to try this cider again, as well as its Cherry cousin, which I will review soon.  Hopefully I’ll get to try more ciders from Virtue in the future.

Have you tried Virtue Cider The Mitten?  What did you think?

Virtue The Mitten Bourbon Barrel Aged Cider

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Review of Virtue Cider’s The Mitten, a bourbon barrel aged cider made using only Michigan apples.  This is the first cider I’ve tried from Virtue.

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Cider:  The Mitten
Cidery:  Virtue Cider
Cidery Location:  Fennville MI
ABV:  6.9%
How Supplied:  750ml green champagne bottle, capped (also available in kegs)

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Availability:  Limited release, winter seasonal.  Virtue cider may be available in GA, MD, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PN, RI, VA, VT, IL, ID, KY, MI, MN, OH, WI, CA, OR, WA, & TX.

Cider Description:  When the leaves fall, there’s a chill in the air and the evening greedily takes hours from daylight, we stand strong and embrace the wintertime. It’s a time of rich foods, roaring fires and our favorite sweaters. Drinks change from refreshing to intense and satisfying. The Mitten is a Winter cider, a blend of last seasons best, aged in bourbon barrels, with the new season’s fresh pressed apple juice. Straight cider, aged for 3 seasons, finds notes of vanilla, caramel and charred American oak, balanced with the best of the orchard, over-ripe apples and their sweet, tart, earthy juice. Many barrels are filled, but only a small portion, the very smoothest, will find their way into The Mitten. We love wintertime, especially when we have The Mitten to keep us warm and happy through the long, cold night.

Northern Spy, Cox’s Orange Pippin, McIntosh, and Jonathan apples blended with cider aging in our barrel house that is made from more than forty varietals of apples.

See Virtue’s info page on this cider.

Cidery Description:  Virtue Farm is located in Southwest Michigan, part of the state’s thriving Cider Coast.  Michigan’s Cider Coast boasts 200 miles of apple orchards, changing leaves, and stunning vistas best enjoyed with a glass of crisp cider. All along the coast, great cider being made by a bevy of wonderful cider makers, all working hard to revive dozens of varieties of heirloom apples ideal for juicing and fermenting.  Virtue Cider is proud to be part of this burgeoning revival of an important Michigan tradition.

They have a tasting room.  Also see this page on their barrel aging program.  This cider was bourbon barrel aged at least 6 months (depending on the vintage).  I’m guessing I tried the 2014 vintage.  The 2015 vintage is expected to be released in December by the way.

Price:  ~$24
Where Bought:  Capitol Cider in Seattle WA
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  I’ve read a number of articles & reviews on this cider, which is quite well-received.  I’ve been on the lookout for it ever since (although I can find a number of Virtue’s other varieties, this one is more rare in WA).  I was very excited to see it on the bottle list at Capitol Cider, and just my luck, they still had it (they only update their printed bottle lists so often, so its possible they have since run out of items).

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First Impression:  High carbonation (foamed over when I opened it!).  Gold amber hue.  Lots of tiny bubbles and foam.  Hazy.  Rich medium sweet very ripe apple, bourbon, vanilla, oak, caramel, and brown sugar scent.

Opinion:  Semi-dry.  Frothy almost mousse-like sparkling/carbonated mouth feel.  Rich bold flavors but light bodied.  Very warming.  Mild to moderate barrel influence.  Moderate to heavy bourbon influence.  Moderate to high acidity.  Moderate bitterness,  Low to moderate tannins.  Moderate tartness.  Moderate astringency.  Ripe apple, bourbon, vanilla, oak, and caramel notes (quite similar to the scent, but tasted less sweet then it smelled).  Slightly earthy and smokey.  Long bitter finish.  The other reviews I’ve read didn’t seem to mention this high of a level of carbonation and the significant bitterness, but each palate is different, and they could have been from a different vintage (a craft product like this varies year to year).

Most Similar to:  Other drier bourbon barrel aged ciders with bitter notes.  My favorite bourbon barrel aged cider so far is Traditions Bourbon Barrel 2012, made by 2 Towns, which I tried at Cider Summit Seattle 2015.  This one definitely had the highest level of carbonation I’ve seen in this type of cider (often barrel aged ciders are presented almost still).  The level of heat reminded me of Sea Cider Prohibition / Rumrunner.  I would have guessed this cider was a much higher ABV, but it was very smooth and relatively easy to drink.

Closing Notes:   I think I psyched myself up a bit too much for this one.  I really liked it, but didn’t love it.  I think if it wasn’t for the bitterness in the finish, I would have been really impressed.  I think it also smelled better than it tasted (more sweetness came across in the scent).  Maybe all the sweet-type notes made me want a sweeter cider?  All in all it is a nice cider selection which makes me want to try more ciders from Virtue and from the Finger Lakes region (which similar to WA & OR is known for cider).

Second day update:  I didn’t finish this cider the first night (as its just me and I have a tendency to make small pours).  On the second night, I oddly enough found it had developed a distinct sourness (and remained pretty high carbonation).  I’m used to ciders losing flavor / mellowing out, but sour is a new one.  It was well-sealed with a flip top.  So, I’d recommend drinking this in one night.

Have you tried any ciders from Virtue?  What did you think?