Lagg Distillery on the Isle of Arran made the most of the first ever harvest of apples from its orchards by creating an exclusive bottling of ‘Lagg Distillery Orchard Cider’ in collaboration with Ayrshire Riviera Cider.
The team at Lagg hope that the limited-edition bottling is the first of a brand-new annual tradition, currently only available to purchase from the distillery itself.
But as the Lagg trees keep producing apples, the team also has ambitions to create their own cider brandy.
Distillery manager Graham Omand said: “This is the first step in what will hopefully be a long journey of working with our apples – cider is the plan for the foreseeable, but we have long-term ambitions to create our own Scottish apple brandy right here on the Isle of Arran.”
The three orchards nestled around the distillery feature contain approximately 2000 trees, offering the mix of cider and dessert apple varieties that go into making the exclusive orchard cider.
Allan Thomas of Ayrshire Riviera Cider commented: “We feel privileged to have been allowed to use our cider-making experience to produce a fabulous still cider in collaboration with our friends at Lagg Distillery.
“We hope the residents of, and visitors to, Arran enjoy the cider. It’s fitting that an island once known as Apple Island has a cider worthy of that name.”
Omand gave his tasting notes on the new cider: “It’s incredibly light and sweet on the nose, like sweet apple juice, and goes down incredibly smooth. On the tongue there’s the hint of sharp stringency and dryness that you’d expect from the Michelin apples, but it’s beautifully balanced out by the sweetness of the eating apples. It’s truly a perfect cider for a hot summers’ day.”
