Tutts Clump Special Reserve Dry Cider

A while back I reviewed cidermaker Tim Wale’s rather nice Tutts Clump Cider. You’ll recall that Tim is based in West Berks and his mission is To establish Real Cider and Perry at the forefront of English drinks, even if it takes the rest of my life. Laudable stuff. This time I sampled some of his Special Reserve.

Let’s set the scene. It’d been a long day at work. Though fun — I’d built a web-enabled mp3 jukebox. Not central to my job but fun nonetheless. Well, clearly a bit of ciderism was called for. A journey into ciderspace if you will.

So, I cracked a 500ml bottle of Tutts Clump Special reserve. Like the regular Tutts Clump, the Reserve is made with a mix of eating, cooking and crab apples rather than with the traditional cider varieties. But the Reserve is a fair bit drier — a Good Thingâ„¢ in my opinion.

The colour is a gentle straw yellow, same sort of colour as Weston’s Old Rosie, though at a reasonable (at least in cider terms) 6% Tutts Clump isn't likely to lead quite as readily to head-mashedness. The testure is thinnish with a little hint of fizz. Its fairly clear for a cider, with a slight haze slowly settling after you pour.

The taste is dry, but rather light; watery rather than full-bodied. There is a slight sharpness, though nothing like the zing of the Malvern Oak I was tasting the other day. There isn't too much afterburn, another characteristic of the less full bodied ciders.

It is certainly very drinkable, if you're after a lighter cider that is nice and dry. It left me wanting a little bit more body, but I realize that I have a strong preference for the rotgut scrumpy when it comes down to it.

2012-01-27 by Charlie Harvey