One of our most fun adventures took us to Somerset where we have discovered yet another little known British treasure, Cider Brandy. Somerset Pomona is a secret blend of juice and Cider Brandy that has been passionately matured in small oak barrels for at least 2 years.
How is it best drunk?
It is light to taste with a smooth butterscotch finish and an undeniable aroma of the many types of apples that are grown on Burrow Hill Farm where it is made. My Wife enjoys it with a little ice as an aperitif, and drinks it in the place of a fine medium dry sherry. I enjoy it as a light port, after a good supper, with a little soft cheese, brie or port salut for example. We both agree that this is one of the most versatile and delicious spirits available in Britain today. If you like our Pomona why not try our 10 Year Old West Country Cider Spirit 42% also?
How is this made?
Somerset Pomona 20% is a blend of apples and cider brandy aged for two years in oak barrels. The result is exotic, smelling of apples spiked with gentian and almonds. Cider Brandy is similar but very different from the more commonly known French Cider Brandy, produced in the Calvados Region of France. Both our Somerset 10 Year Old Cider Brandy 42% and our Pomona 20% are made at Pass Vale Farm by Julian Temperley, a wonderfully passionate man who has achieved miracles to hold the first recorded full cider distilling license in recorded history. The process of making Cider Brandy is complex. In the autumn vintage cider apples are gathered and pressed. The juice is fermented in huge oak vats and then distilled in two stills which Julian has given the names "Fifi" and "Josephine." The clear spirit, known as Eau de Vie, is then trickled into oak barrels where it is left to mature. The combination of barrel, apples, soil and climate at Burrow Hill give Julian's Cider Brandy its distinctive and excellent taste.