75cl 8% abv

Supreme Champion at the 2011 Royal Bath and West Cider Show

• Overall Champion at the Hereford International Cider and Perry Show 2014, against 200 other UK ciders.

• Overall Champion at the Mid-Somerset Show 2017

• Excellent with food or as an aperitif. 

REVIEWS

Malt Review

“Colour: Bright copper.

On the nose: Big, fulsome nose for a traditional method. Rich, ripe, juicy fare. Loads of blood orange and ginger and clove and baked apple – the Stoke Red character is really shining. There’s some woody leatheriness in here too; I can certainly see the shared DNA with their Kingston Black. Loads going on. Mousse is initially very lively – open carefully! – but its aggression is very quickly reduced.

In the mouth: Yes, it’s dry – bone dry – but so full-bodied is the fruit and so creamy the mousse that it never once seems austere. More blood orange and dried apple and more of that woody spiciness, though the leathery touch found on the nose isn’t here. The acidity keeps things fresh without being at all cheek-puckering. The tannins towards the end are absolutely lovely – ripe and velvety with just the right amount of grip. Another traditional method from the Bollhayes school and a splendid advert for dry cider.”

Crafty Nectar

“The Stoke Red is a completely different beast from the Medium Dry, pouring busily with a bright, copper colour and a thick mousse which settled into a really playful sparkle. The aroma is lean with toasted nuts; waxy, red apple skins; and delicate hints of ginger and oak. But more than that, it transported me to memories of being in a barn during the pressing season — that visceral sensation that only the best food and drinks draw out. This cider is bone dry, and I really love dry ciders, but it took me aback with it’s dryness at first. It’s taut and crisp across the palate with wood and leather at first but softening into that beautiful Stoke Red fruit. Again this cider is a wonderful expression of the fruit within.

The Stoke Red cuts to the core of Burrow Hill’s cider philosophy. Presenting a single variety that is grown in their orchards and then bottle fermented and aged in their cellars for two years. The result here is very deliberate, cider can age with such grace and Burrow Hill have placed their trust in not only the fruit but every aspect of this cidermaking practices knowing the rewards won’t be reaped for years to come. At first the more challenging aspects like the dryness or those mature notes of wood and leather dominate but the cider slowly opens itself and reveals its graceful age therein. There is such a lovely finesse to this cider and this method of presenting it. I can’t wait to get my hands on the rest of this bottle fermented range. “