A giant triploid apple, Spigold is a cross of Northern Spy and Golden delicious, bred at Cornell Geneva, selected in 1944 and introduced in 1962.
Spigold retains some of the minerality of Spy, with Golden Delicious aromatics. We have made a single varietal Spigold for years…with a very champagne-like flavor profile.
Several on the Eve’s team list Jonagold as their number one favorite eating apple. We also love Jonagold aromatics in distilled spirits. Jonagold was bred by the Cornell breeding program in Geneva, New York. It was selected in 1943 and introduced in 1968, and it has become broadly popular in Europe.
Liberty is primarily a fresh eating apple, but we use it occasionally in blends to add an aromatic punch. It’s one of those varieties that ferments into an aroma that is remarkably similar to the fresh apple. It is a scab resistant cross of Macoun by a malus floribunda offspring, bred at the Geneva Experiment Station in the 1950s. A diminutive tree that crops heavily and annually.
Northern Spy. ( Minerality: salt and shale)
We love NS for its minerality; however, this is definitely one of those apples that is fairly insipid when grown and harvested like dessert fruit in the wrong location. Our Spy is specifically the original strain, not “Red Spy” which ferments very differently. It has a neutral sort of fresh/unripe apple aroma when fermented that verges into a salty/ shale austerity. Grown on our dry gravelly ground, it has a refreshing acid-tannin component that is very much wet stone. We often use this as the last blending component; a blend that has the right structure and aromatics will often take on a new level of depth with 10% or 15% Northern Spy.
Esopus Spitzenburg (Spicy aromatic heirloom)
Another old New York apple with great cider making qualities that doubles as an aromatic and a sharp. Spitzenburg contributes plenty of acid and a spicy “old fashioned” flavor to cider.
Golden Russet. (aroma/richness)
This apple adds a very distinct set of aroma characteristics as well as beautiful richness. As a single variety, it lacks structure; but we find at about 30%-50% of the blend the cider will retain the aromatics of Golden Russet, specifically ripe melon and stone fruit. Sometimes unripe peach, white peach, ripe peach, or sometimes apricot. In addition to stone fruit, GR (in our fermentations) has a distinctive beeswax/tar/petrol quality.