An homage to the band My Morning Jacket and their Southern roots, The Jacket by Crispin Cider is aged in whiskey barrels. If you like whiskey, you’re going to get a heavy nose and palate full of it when you try this cider.
The whiskey aging really blasts straightaway. It’s an unmistakable flavor of this dry, tart cider. Wondering where the idea of aging things in other spirits’ barrels came from? Let’s do a little research…
It’s recognized that Pliny the Elder did not discover barrel-aging but popularized it’s importance almost 2,000 years ago. As for when someone started taking barrels that were used for one spirit and finishing a different spirit or beer in them, I’m not sure when people decided that would be something interesting to do to beer/cider. There’s an article that talks about a 1994 Goose-Island beer and it being the first or one of the first to age in a bourbon barrel, and I can’t really find much else. I’m giving up the search at 20 minutes in, though – if you have a better link to share with us, please post it in the comments section!
Among brewers, the jury is out on whether you can use the barrel once or multiple times to age beers. I’ve spoken to brewers in both camps, and I tend to side with the “use once” mentality. It just makes sense. Of course, if you rotate the barrels through beer and whiskey aging, you’ll be just fine.
Just The Facts
Appearance: Cloudy burnt orange
Smell: whiskey nose with crabapple tartness
Taste: Peaty, oaky, dry
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, heavier than all other ciders in the Crispin line but the Honey Crisp
Drinkability: Easy drinker. Over ice, the only reason you’ll remember there’s alcohol in this is the whiskey aroma and taste
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Whiskey!
