I met briefly with Joe Heron, CEO of Crispin Cider yesterday; always a pleasure. I was fortunate to walk away with a pre-release bottle of a new, very limited-edition, 8.3% apple wine called The Jacket. The Jacket is a blend of four apple-wines that is aged in Jack Daniels barrels. The first and second parts of the blend are the undiluted base of The Saint and Lansdowne, Crispin’s Artisanal Reserve ciders fermented with Belgian ale yeast and Irish ale yeast respectively. The remaining portions are a Colfax varietal apple-wine and a wild-fermented apple-wine.

The name is obviously inspired from the Jack Daniels barrels used for aging. A less obvious inspiration is the band My Morning Jacket, one of Heron’s favorites. This is an extremely limited release; only 1000 cases were made. The Jacket will debut on October 28th in Louisville, at a St. Crispin’s day event benefiting the Louisville Youth Orchestra. Look for a Minnesota release on or near that date.

Here’s my notes:

The Jacket
Crispin Cider Company, Minneapolis, MN
Style: Barrel Aged Apple Wine
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Deep. Earthy. Applesauce with brown sugar. Background whiffs of bourbon that stick in the nose. Oaky vanilla.

Appearance: Murky gray-brown. Light carbonation bubbles. Not exactly pretty to look at, but the appearance is appropriately earthy and mysterious for the flavor and aroma.

Flavor: Deep, dark and mysterious. My grandmother’s homemade applesauce. Earth, oak, and must. Loamy. Notes of vanilla, wood and bourbon that ebb and flow in and out with each sip. Lightly tart acidity. Gentle alcohol. It finishes tart, but then lingers on apple-pie-like raisins and brown sugar. This apple wine conjures an image of an old, graying, wooden crate that has sat for decades in a barn.

Mouthfeel: Full-bodied and warming. Lightly spritzy. Alcohol warms all the way down.

Overall Impression: There is a lot going on here. Sip this one slowly over time and let all the flavor sensations bounce around in your head. This is a thinking person’s cider; deep, rich, dark and old. It wants food. Maybe pork stewed with exotic spices. Or just savor it on it’s own.