Caramel Apple (VSO) 14% (12-5-21) – Thick and gooey. First take-away. Stick to your hands, delicious caramel is the main player here, WITH, a hint of apple. Having not solo’d VSO’s Caramel or Green Apple, we’ll just have to see how they ride together. This one presented as about 65% Caramel, and 35% Green Apple. The apple I did get, was a fresh, crisp, somewhat tart green apple. It was completely drenched in a rich, sticky caramel. I can’t tell for sure if it’s all the caramel or the pairing, but the caramel was like none other I’ve tried before. Not necessarily buttery-rich, but it had some mid and darker tones that many/most others miss, which led to an interestingly different caramel experience, WITH some green apple hehe. At times I had pondered, Smoky caramel, spicy caramel, but it wasn’t exactly either, but it was great that it kept you guessing. Two ticks above mid-level sweet, and no off notes could be found here. This one does make me want to pick up Shane’s Caramel, and see how it fared in other mixes, so that’s always a good sign. When smelling it, you get hints of the tart green apple, but when tasting they subside fairly substantially as the caramel takes over. Pretty damned sticky delicious. Another nicely done combo from VSO, and the caramel will leave you finding it hard to put down. 9.3/10.
Soul Warming Cider (VSO) 14% (12-12-21) – Every once in a while, just ONCE in a while, a flavor turns out to be EXACTLY what the MFG claims. This one was billed as …
This is based off an age old recipe of wassail punch. It is a hearty and crisp cider base, mulled with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and star anise. A splash of zesty orange is added to accentuate the crisp clean taste of the apple. The warmth comes from a small splash of brandy to shake off the brisk autumn chill!
… and that is EXACTLY what I got, to the T. Now not being overly familiar with Wassail Punch, I researched it, and indeed, it is/was much much more, than just an apple cider. Now compared to VSO’s Apple Cider, this one was much richer, involved, and deliciously complicated. Overall, the apple profile(s) were somewhat reduced, BUT, only because they were sharing the stage with a delicious orange, and a handful of spices. Now, the spices were not face slamming in any way, and were perfectly paired with the apple and oranges. With the orange added in, it had an interesting “rich-ening” effect, and really fattened out the entire profile, giving it much more weight. Not that VSO’s regular Apple Cider was inferior, because it wasn’t, but I think I preferred this one, over it. Just a perfect Holiday experience to be had. Felt super fine @ 14%, nothing off-putting, and the spice level was JUST high enough, but not overbearing in the mix. All in, this one was really good, and I could find no faults with it. It was an interestingly different take on a “cider” for me, and was craftily done at that. Easily 9.9/10.
Just special ordered the harvest moon during the Easter sale along with the Golden Joe one-shot (I do love my coffee) and a few different single flavors like Triple Sec, Espresso, Irish Cream, Amaretto, and my all time favorite Rum. I’ll try and put up some decent reviews once I receive and test them.