Review: Rickard's Cardigan Autumn Spiced Lager

Well.. I'm not one to review beers by macros as generally.. they're usually quite bland and leave nothing to the imagination. Then again, the majority of the people who read my reviews, they don't come to my reviews to read a review of a Belgian Tripel, they want to know about Coors Light Iced T (CLIT) and Budweiser Shot... unfortunately. So once in a while, you just have to cave in and give them what they want.

Molson's Rickard's brand has come out with a new series of beers to compliment the old standards (White, Dark, Blonde and Red) by introducing new seasonals that go well with the changing weather.. The first beer as part of this new series is Rickard's Cardigan Autumn Spiced Lager, a spiced lager that's described of being infused with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and a bit of brown sugar. To me, that sounds like an old Big Rock's McNally's Winter Spice that no longer exists - a very ginger snaps/cinnamon bun theme to a beer.

When drinking this straight out of the bottle, the aroma is a bit of malty, with an obvious ginger snap-like aroma in there somewhere. Taste wise - just picture yourself drinking a lager with cinnamon in it, and just a hint of brown sugar.. because that's what it is.

It's not bad but it's not great either. It's by far better than Rickard's other lager - Rickard's Blond, and yes, even better than the flagship Molson Canadian, but compared to a Rickard's White? I'd rather have the White. But as someone who likes cinnamon buns, gingerbread cookies and cinnamon in general, this doesn't taste that bad at all for me.
When poured into a glass, the cinnamon and nutmeg aromas were much more apparent. The appearance is golden blonde, like any standard lager - but with a slight orange hue - likely from the cinnamon and spices, lots of bubbling going on and minimal head. The cinnamon spice isn't as apparent as in just the bottle.
It's alright, decent coming from Molson, and comparable to a micro-macro like Big Rock, so if that's the kind of beer you like, you will surely enjoy this. For me though, as the seasons are changing, I will be now sipping on some Cannery Maple Stout, THE best maple beer I've ever had.

The seasons are changing and time to start getting all comfied up.. so maybe the Cardigan isn't the worst idea out there..

Last off, one thing I found funny about the back of the bottle is that the back label has serving and pouring instructions, similar to what you would see on Belgian beers and beers from Unibroue, such as recommending to serve at 6C and tilt glassware at 45 degree angle.. when did Rickard's start trying to take on pseudo-beersnobbery? Well they still haven't.. yet.

Costs approximately $12 for a 6 pack (6 x 341mL bottles), 5.5% alcohol/volume. I rated this on Untappd as 3/5, so I'll leave it at that.