Willie Smith’s Kingston Black

Lately the lads down at Willie Smith’s have been doing a run of limited releases. Finally they have got around to doing a single variety cider of my favourite apple – introducing the Willie Smith’s Kingston Black 2017.

It was once know as the black apple in the Somerset parish of Kingston where it originated from. Today The Kingston Black is one of the most converted apples for making single variety cider. The Kingston Black is a bit of bugger to grow. First of all it’s prone to many diseases. If you manage to keep the trees healthy they are only going to give you a decent crop every other year. Oh yeah, and the fruit is pretty small when it does grow.

So with all that effort to grow the apples you better hope it’s worth it. The Kingston Black is famed for being high in acid and bitters with enough sugar to give a solid alcohol level. This bitter sharp apple has everything you need to make a single variety cider. So what where the results Willie Smith’s came up with?

The Nose

Earthy musty cider cut with freshly squeezed oranges and ripe apples with illusions of caramel.

The Taste

It tastes just like it smells. Wonderfully complex. It has a similar acid profile to a fresh glass of orange juice, which provides a nice bright counter point to the funk. Classic bottle conditioned bubbles sit invisible in the glass but explode on your tongue. Just enough woodiness to highlight Kingston blacks natural tannins. The finish is crisp and minerally and very moreish

Final Thoughts on the Willie Smith’s Kingston Black

I paired it with a plate of hard cheeses. Willie Smith’s recommend crab, I can see a big muddy working with the musty nose. It’s complex and interesting enough to drink by itself. If you are looking for a textbook example of what a Kingston Black cider can be, this is the bottle you should be hunting down.

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