I remember the mid 2000's and the zombie mania that had overtaken all of us. It seems like you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a zombie cat in the process, and all was right with the world (except for all the zombies). Flash forward to 2020, and a cider named Zombie Killer seems a little strange and incongruent with the times. I see on the front that this was a 2011 winner of some prize, so I guess this is probably a staple for this beverage manufacturer. If it's been around since then, I'm hoping that the public loves it because it's good.
A recent beverage I did a review of had strawberries in it, and they influenced the flavor, but they did not influence the color. This one has cherries added, and they have changed what is normally a clear, watered-down apple juice color into something more in line with the light rosé. Obviously, this isn't carbonated, so we don't have to worry about any bubbles, head, lacing, or any of the stuff that would normally come with a beer. The aroma is sweet wine with apples, pears, and bing cherries.
First sip is more like a mead than it is like a hard cider. The wine-like nature of the beverage added on top of the sweetness with the cherry pits adding a certain depth, it's easy to forget that this beverage only carries a 5.5% ABV, so I could probably drink these all night without feeling too bad in the morning. With this flavor, I might be inclined to. It has the appropriate tartness added to a defining sweetness that would make a slightly better beverage if it did not have quite as much of a dry finish.
Bottom Line: I have had many apples ciders that could not stand up to this example.
3.5/5
