The scent of apples baked in cinnamon and nutmeg wafts out of Corvallis’ 2 Towns Ciderhouse’s Nice & Naughty Spiced Bad Apple seasonal. It’s like a pie fresh from your grandma’s oven on Christmas Eve. Suck it in, because it’s all downhill from there. This one’s a stunner on the nose and a total letdown on the palate. It’s flat in taste and carbonation, and the “cinnamon smoke” just doesn’t play nice with the oakiness of the base cider, resulting in a dirty aftertaste. The most compelling reason to drink this cider during the season of family get-togethers and shitty weather is its 10.5 percent ABV, although I could say the same thing about Charles Shaw wines—which are a good $2.29 cheaper than the $8.29 we paid for a 22-ounce bottle of Nice & Naughty. For a cider that really tastes like winter, it seems you still can’t go past investing in some good spices and mulling your own. Not recommended.
