Domaine Pinnacle Cidre de Glace - Ice Cider

Brewed by Domaine Pinnacle Inc.
Style: Ice Cider
Frelighsburg, Canada

2005 bottle, aged over 3 years. Still and clear, the golden hued body sits pure in the glass without carbonation of any sort. A swirl of the glass reveals runny legging of moderate to high density. The nose is divine, showing notes of sweet, concentrated apple mash and zesty acidity, with vanilla and hints of wildflower honey. There’s a very light, earthy mustiness and perhaps even the faintest possible wisp of nuts. Flavors show more of the same, striking a great balance between sweet and tart apples. Zesty acidity is cut by the honey component, with vanilla proving itself as a perfect complement. Showing moderate thickness and viscosity for the iced style, there is a dry tartness that lingers after the finish. Alcohol is barely detectable despite the 12% ABV. This one does not quite stack up to some of the elite ice ciders, but it comes in near the top of the second tier examples.

2004 vintage. Pours a nice syrupy golden yellow with a light copper hue- viscous and thick on the walls of the glass- clear and still. Aroma is nice sweet fresh pressed thick apples, with a sharp malic acid acidity on the nose- but alcohol is kept to a minimum throughout despite is relatively high abv. Very thick and syrupy flavor, fresh sweet apples- yet a nice crisp acidity, with some light earth, and honey. Great light prickly finish with almost no alcohol bite- just very well made and intense. Great cider.

Clear golden yellow body, still. Hugely rich and sweet apple nose, very pure, very inviting. Some spicy floral notes float out of the glass, mostly consumed by the apple character but they do add a unique dimension to this cider. Semi-sweet flavor, thick, gritty (sugared), overripe red apples all over it, warming, impressive, delicious. That small note of lavender/spice is pretty nice.

2004 bottle shared by dickinsonbeer at BCTC. Thanks Paul! Nose was sweet honey, fresh apples, a bit of alcohol. Flavor is fresh apples, honey, a bit of tartness. Thick mouthfeel but also very refreshing. I really love ice ciders and I rarely get to have them so this was a nice treat.

2006. Bright gold. Aroma is golden delicious and granny smith apples, with light alcohol and a honey like accent. Taste is lightly tart with a red apple sweetness balancing the tartness out. Pretty good stuff.

2006 375ml bottle from HogtownHarry; Nose of what smells to be a combination of apples of variious types, some sweet and some sour; clear gold, no carbination; flavor is swet red apples mixed with a background tartness; finish slightly tart.

The worst part of this cider was that the bottle was 50mL. Great taste and complexity. The aroma is faint, but pleasant. The body is pretty standard. The taste is great though.

Part of trade with beerbuzzmontreal, thanks! 50ml bottle. I was blown away with the level of depth this full bodied cider had. Having only experienced macro cider (Strongbow, Woodchuck, K) this opened my eyes into the complexity that a cider can have. I hope to have more of this.