Cider Week: Cider # 3 Magners Irish Cider

Magners Irish Cider

HP Bulmers Cider
Clonmel, Tipperary, Republic of Ireland
Owned by C&C Group PLC
Adjunct Hard Apple Cider 5.0 % ABV Aluminium Can 500 ml.
$3.15 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @MagnersCanada

Magners is the name of the cider that is marketed outside of Ireland. Inside Ireland this same product is called Bulmers. Naming rights for the product only extended to the borders of the country so a new name had to be chosen. In 1935 the orchard when the company was started was owned by William Magner. He produced Magners cider for 2 years until he sold a half share of the companyy to English cider maker HP. Bulmer. Bulmer bought the remaining 50% after the war and changed the name to Bulmers. Bulmers was eventually sold to Guinness and then to its current owner C&C Group. Magners has been receiving a growing market share in Canada for the last 15 years and is still doing well they currently produce 4 flavours of cider: original, light, berry, and pear..

Enough history... onto the tasting.

Dark orange with hints of a peach colour as it pours. Head disperses quickly leaving no trace. Aroma is candy-like with hints of cinnamon and clove. There is a definite woodiness to it. First sip is tart and very effervescent. Bubbles across the tongue like champagne. Citric acid is very evident. very tart, tangy, slightly chemical. It does not taste like fresh apples, it tastes more like a juice made from concentrate or very processed. This product has has sugar, colour, sulfites, and citric acid added to it, so while we are still in the realm of cider... we are leaning more to the alcoholic beverage side. There is a light smokiness which I think has been added. The draught version of this product was supposed to be oak aged. I think that feeling has been added chemically in the canned version.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 2/6 SO-SO
Cider Style: 3/6 SO-SO
Re-Order:  2/6 SO-SO
Experience:  3/6 SO-SO

Final Thoughts:

Huh. Very disappointed. I remember when I lived in the Beach in Toronto, I used to enjoy a Magners on draught and one of the local bars called Murphy's Law. And I seem to remember this cider being much, much better than this. The colour is unnatural, and the taste is very chemical. I will have to try this on draught again to see if it has changed too. Sadly, chalk this one up to the "Avoid" side.

P.S. I got through the whole post with out making a "Tipperary" joke... uh... almost.

Cheers

CJT


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