Spy – Estate Cider

Cider Profile:

Name: Spy – Estate Cider
Sampled September 2025

Brand: Spy Distillery and Cider House Type: Apple – Dry Location of Production: Blue Mountains, ON ABV: 8.5% Website Link: spydistillery.com Ingredients: Apples, sulphites Gluten Free: Yes Sugar Content: N/A Size(s) available: 750ml (bottle) Availability: Spy retail and online store Flavour: Apple Colour: Transparent sunshine yellow Carbonation: Fine streaming bubbles, some foam.

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Cider Crate Tasting Notes:

Smell: Strong aroma. Fleshy, pulpy, medley of bright apple notes. Hints of wood and yeasty esters.
Initial Taste: Medium bite from carbonation. Quickly a boozy apple with some astringency. Woody, oaky notes. A blend of apple notes coming through, dessert and heritage, peel and flesh. A slight caramelized apple too. Pear drop.
After Taste: Apples become drier, and softer. Smooth finish. Honey-like notes.
On ice: Slightly less boozy and watered down.

Additional Notes: Spy’s Estate Cider is a 8.5% imperial cider, and the way the flavour journey starts, you don’t doubt that. Boozy and with a bit of alcohol heat, you get that and astringency upfront. Some tannin, but not a defining feature, it moves into a medley of apple notes, from peel to flesh, and the golden russet and the heritage notes (has Porter’s Perfection and Bulmer’s Norman). A bright cider overall with depth.

Rated on a scale of 1-5
Sweet – 1.5
Sour – 3.5
Crisp – 3
Dry – 4
Fruity – 4

Next recommendations:
More Sweet – Two Blokes – Angel’s Share
More Sour – Grey & Gold – Northern Gold
More Dry – 
More Crisp – Dirty Dog – Russet

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