Another week in October goes by, and so the world grows more and more orange. That’s cool though, save for a few idiotically cold days last weekend, it’s been a really awesome Fall so far. Continuing from last week’s snack report which covered Woodchuck’s Private Reserve, this week we take a look at a lesser-known brand, 1911 Hard Cider.

1911 Spirits is based in upstate New York, which continues to be a utopia for ciders and all things apple-related. Besides their ciders, they also feature distilled spirits such as gin. Admittedly I’d never heard of them prior to this Fall, despite them existing since 1911 (shame on me) but let’s ignore that. Especially since I’m now an instant fan of theirs.

1911 Pumpkin Hard Cider is definitely one of the pumpkiniest drinks I’ve tasted. The bottle states that the cider is brewed with pumpkin puree in it, in addition to molasses, French oak, and spices. I’m assuming those spices include cinnamon, and possibly other standard fare like nutmeg, but cinnamon is the most likely and what I can taste. Regardless, the smell of it has a very noticeable pumpkin fragrance, and you can taste it as soon as it hits your tongue, compared to Woodchuck’s which has a subdued effect. Interestingly, this cider differs from Woodchuck’s pumpkin cider in that it does feature the aforementioned spices and oak. I will say though, the two are pretty reversed since 1911’s cider doesn’t have a lingering pumpkin flavor the way that Woodchuck did. Not a bad thing, just two different approaches.

As a cider, I will say it’s not actually my favorite, but that’s more of a personal taste. 1911 has molasses in it for flavoring, and you can taste them to a degree. That, and the cider is a little bit on the drier side of the spectrum. If you like your ciders dry and almost yeast-y, you’re gonna love this stuff. I still really do like it though, don’t get me wrong. It has a great tang to it, something that gets lost in a lot of ciders brewed with spices. A lot of them get overly sweet and end up losing that natural tartness that apples have, but 1911 still tastes very much like an actual apple cider.

1911 Pumpkin Cider is absolutely worth your time to drink, this Fall, especially if you like dry and tangy ciders. The only contraindication I could really mention is if you really don’t like the smell or flavor of molasses.

Should you drink 1911 Pumpkin Hard Cider?

Yes