The subject of today's post is special to me. You see, it's been that personal white whale I've been chasing for years. I can now say I've finally caught it.


Woodchuck's Private Reserve Pumpkin was a beverage that was strange to me. I stumbled upon those stark orange and black bottles soon after I started drinking. I had only recently had the cidery's Fall Harvest (which has since been renamed to Spiced Apple) and fallen in love with it. While I was still hesitant to try beers with pumpkin in them, I figured a pumpkin cider might be up my alley. So, I took the plunge and bought the expensive sixer of the stuff at my local Kroger.

That sixer was a catalyst for me. I hated the cider. But, I figured there had to be something to it. Surely, they wouldn't take such care to make it and sell it at such an high price if it was bad! That cider is what got me to work on improving my taste when it came to cider and beer, an effort which led directly into the creation of this blog. A year later, when I was ready to try Private Reserve Pumpkin again, it was gone. After that initial year, I never saw the stuff again. I was heartbroken.

Fast-forward eight years. I was walking around one of my local bottleshops and had to suppress a squeal when I saw a stack of Woodchuck Pumpkin sixers. Sure the packaging was different (and it was a few bucks cheaper), but that didn't matter. I knew it had to be the triumphant return of that cider I'd despised so long ago. I added it to my cart and squirreled it away until today, when I'm finally able to make a post about it. So, here we are: Pumpkin.

Good news, folks. It's looks the hypothesis I made in my last post actually came to pass: Winter has hidden it's hideous face from the world until the end of the year. It's very obviously springtime here in south-western Ohio. My windows are open, the birds without them are singing, and I've started to notice people outside exercising with greater frequency.


How am I choosing to celebrate the changing of the seasonal guard? With a limited Woodchuck cider that was in production nearly a year ago. Regardless of its age and current availability (I shouldn't have been able find it) I think this cider is a great choice for weather like this.

I can hear your groans now. "Oh, no. Don't tell me he's writing about Woodchuck again." Sorry to disappoint, but yes. I am writing about Woodchuck again. In case you can't tell, I have a fondness for the cidery because (and only because) they tend to brew some of my favorite alcoholic drinks.

This evening I'm writing about Woodchuck's autumn seasonal: Fall Harvest. I don't want to spoil too much before you get into my full review of the cider but I don't not enjoy it.

Believe it or not summer seems to be winding down here in Cincinnati. After a good three months of incredibly, unbearably hot days the mornings finally have a chill to them.

I take all of this as a very good sign. Summer can pack its bags and leave. Autumn is the best season, and has the best beers (some of which have already hit the market and have taken refuge in my fridge, where I've picked them off one by one).


In all my rush to enjoy fall and its brews to the fullest, I let something fall behind. Luckily I realized it a few weeks ago and plan to correct my mistake today. With this post, I'm discussing my absolute favorite summer seasonal: Woodchuck's Summer Time.

Woodchuck Hard Cider will always and forever hold a special place in my heart. I am yet to have a single offering from the cidery that I dislike. Sure, I like some of their brews more than others (Fall Harvest, for example, is my absolute favorite adult beverage whereas I think Woodchuck's Amber is only okay).

Because I haven't had a bad experience with Woodchuck I'm always excited when I stumble upon one of their styles that I've never tried. The last time this happened was with Cheeky Cherry in February, which was part of the Out On A Limb series. Out On A Limb has put out a new cider since then but I haven't been able to find it.

What I have found is one of Woodchuck's Cellar Series ciders. I've only had one of this series' offerings before and that was the Mint last summer. That seemed like an odd combination at first (mint and apple? Who would think that'd be good?) but the cider masterminds in Vermont found a way to pull it off in flying colors.

Nearly a week ago I bought their Ginger at Jungle Jim's (a Cincinnati area-based grocery store chain with giant animatronics). The 22-ounce bottle was somewhere in the neighborhood of two to five dollars. A price well worth the beverage.

In my very first post, in which I laid out my hopes for this blog, I said I enjoyed hard cider. I'm at a point in my life where I'm purchasing beer and cider in equal quantities; one week I'll buy a pack of beer and the next I'll pick up some cider. This is my fourth real post, so I figure it's time I actually talk about this stuff.

Tonight I'm drinking Woodchuck (but you knew that already because you read the title, right?). I love Woodchuck for their "special" ciders such as their seasonals, special reserves, cellar series, and more lately (since it's been introduced) their Out on a Limb series. Truth be told, if I'm drinking a traditional non-special hard cider, I'd sooner reach for an Angry Orchard or Johnny Appleseed, but when it comes to taking chances on something crazy and unique, Woodchuck does it in style.

Woodchuck's been brewing cider since 1991. I swear I read on their Facebook page once that they kickstarted the US cider revolution, which is impressive (and something that I'd believe. I was only one at the time, but it seems like I didn't start seeing hard cider places until the mid-2000s)*. Still, Woodchuck wasn't on my radar until I saw it in my RA's mini fridge during my sophomore year at Ohio University. The brand's name stuck in my head and when I turned 21, roughly a year later, Woodchuck was one of the  alcoholic beverages I bought when I drove to Kroger on my first beer run.

What I'm drinking right now, Cheeky Cherry, is part of the company's Out on a Limb series. Out on a Limb came about in October 2014 as a way for the brewer to get some of its more experimental (some may say "risky") brews into consumer hands. Every few months the kind of cider offered in the series switches. As far as consumers know, once the style is gone it won't return. I never tried Chocolate Raspberry, the series' first offering, but it's second, Spitter Splinter, was delicious. It was sour but had distinct notes of bourbon (probably because it was aged in bourbon barrels).

The series' third and most recent offering, Cheeky Cherry, hit store shelves at the beginning of February (when many Woodchuck fans were still bemoaning the loss of the Chocolate Raspberry). Once I learned it was out I made my way to my neighborhood Kroger (because it sells Out on a Limb on the cheap: $7.50 for a sixer) to nab it. Upon tasting it, I'm not disappointed.

Purrl is disappointed, though. She only gave it 4 sniffs. I guess she doesn't like sour stuff.


Her nose is right: it's sour. But not too much. The story on the bottle implies that Cheeky Cherry is meant to pucker one's cheeks into perfect selfie taking form. It's not doing that for me, but I have a pretty high tolerance for sour things.

I'm basically Sheen.

It smells pretty sour, though, which is why Purrl was put off. It also smells apple-y. I'm not detecting any hints of cherry in the aroma.

Where I am detecting cherry is in the cider's body. Normally I don't write about body because I'm a strong believer in consuming brews the way they are presented--straight from the bottle (or, at times, can). This cider's an exception to that rule simply because of how pronounced the body is. Even through the amber bottle I can see that the cider's red. That's awesome.


Flavor-wise, it's a lot more green apple than cherry up front. The cherry really only makes its presence known in the aftertaste (I should note that it's also there if you hold a swig in your mouth for a little bit, but the aftertaste is really where the flavor of hits hardest).

Cheeky Cherry is incredibly bubbly, which seems to belie its 5.5% ABV. It almost has a soda-level carbonation. Almost. The sourness coats one's cheeks and sticks around long after a swig's been swallowed.

I lived across the street from a Speedway the summer between completing my bachelors degree and returning to school for my masters. The gas station was running a "Summer of Fountain Fun" (or something) promotion where any sized fountain drink could be had for a buck. I would routinely get an extra-large Speedy Freeze that was half Coke and half cherry-flavored. It was always a deep red color and the cherry was alway there as an aftertaste to the Coke. Those Speedy Freezes and that summer are what this decidedly winter-only release brings to mind. It was a good summer full of hanging out at bars with friends and living off of part-time minimum wage.

Purrl's nuts. Woodchuck Hard Cider's Cheeky Cherry is really good. A treat, if you will (and if you like sour things). Should you find it, I'd suggest you pick it up. It nets an 9.0/10 from me and if your interested in it you need to act fast--it'll only be available for a few months!

*Absolutely none of the facts contained within this sentence were checked and I could just be making all of it up (but I don't think so).