Made by: Caledonian Cider Co

Made in: Conan Bridge, Scottish Highlands

Style: Dry

ABV: 7%

Carbonation: Lightly sparkling

Bought: Good Spirits Co. Wine & Beer, Glasgow

Price: £3.50 (330ml bottle)

Producer’s website: Caledonian Cider Co

Now I will admit to a certain unavoidable bias when it comes to homegrown (i.e. Scottish) properly-made ciders. There are so few of them about that I enthusiastically want them to be good. You know how it is. So far on this journey of mine, however, I haven’t been disappointed with Steilhead’s Goldfinch a standout.

So it’s with slight trepidation that I’m uncapping this Strange Bru Dry Highland Scrumpy from the Caledonian Cider Co that’s been lovingly made in the wee very rural village of Conan Bridge on the Black Isle in the Scottish Highlands, just south of Dingwall.

The cidery was founded in 2013 and (according to its website), produces around 2,000 litres of cider a year, all made just the way we like it: 100% fresh juice from apples plucked by hand from unsprayed locally-grown apple trees in some of the most northerly orchards in Europe. The company ferments using wild yeast in ex-whisky casks, slow and cold. Cider doesn’t really get much more honest than that.

And for added transparency, the website even features a blog outlining in copious detail exactly how the cider is made at the Caley Cider Co, along with some other really interesting, well informed musings on a range of related topics that are certainly worth 20 minutes of your time.

The aim of the cider, ultimately, is ‘to reflect the Highland terroir’, which is not a phrase you hear every day – but maybe it will be in future. Well-made cider can be varied and complex and nuanced and glorious in much the same way as wine is and deserves to be treated with the same reverence and respect, I reckon.

Anyway, Caley produces three ciders including North Shore Wild Scottish Cider and Local Rocket Super Fresh Apple Scrumpy, but it’s the Strange Bru Dry Highland Scrumpy that’s on the menu tonight.

TASTING NOTES, AFTER A FASHION:

It pours a sort of deep yellow gold and it has a bit of cloudiness to it as it’s neither filtered nor fined. There’s a token amount of fizz to it which suits me just fine.

On the nose it’s quite sharp with a bittersweet tang and some soft wood from the whisky casks. There’s also sweet, lush exotic fruit in the background, especially if you give it a right good swirl in the glass. Maybe passionfruit? Yes, I’m thinking passionfruit. And there’s also some sharp, bittersweet gooseberry notes in there too. (Maybe there’s more to that Highland terroir than you’d think.)

In the mouth it’s more bittersweetness, it’s sharp and it’s a touch sour and tart, but in a good way. The fruit is quite restrained but it is there. It’s also surprisingly light for being 7% abv and as it develops the tannins kick in to leave a lovely, appley dry and refreshing finish.

It’s more clean and crisp and tart than I was expecting of a Highland Scrumpy and all the better for it. A classy cider that’s yet more proof that Scotland has very much put itself on the real Cider map.

4️⃣/5️⃣