Drank: Duke Apple Blueberry (Carlton Cyderworks)

By Matthew Korfhage

Earlier this year, we named Carlton Cyderworks' Carry Nation our inaugural Cider of the Year on the strength of a sweet, fresh Jonathan-Jonagold apple blend that's downright elegant. But Carlton's Duke Apple Blueberry is much less regal. Apple tartness mixes with dry, skin-forward blueberry to attain a flavor that's bizarrely digestive—like a pizza belch or a cheese-sweetened barnyard fart—with initial syrupiness giving way to a dry finish of grimly muddled acids and esters. The Duke's stiff carriage on the packaging is apparently the result of a GI-tract disturbance. "Demanding satisfaction," reads the label. It is indeed demanding. But it's unclear what we get in return. Not recommended.

WWeek 2015

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