Which cider are you on?

• Position: WESTERN REGION - Brief article

Hard cider seems a natural fit for western North Carolina, epicenter of the Tar Heel apple and booze industries. (Henderson County alone accounts for about two-thirds of the state's apple production.) Cidermakers started popping up across the state two years ago--only one of 10 dates back before then--and five are clustered near Asheville, which also has a booming craft-beer scene. Beverage of choice for the nation's forefathers, cider fell out of favor as more beer-swilling immigrants arrived in the U.S. But it's staging a comeback: Estimated sales increased to 13.2 million cases in 2013 from 5.4 million cases in 2011, according to Technomic.com, a market-research website. Trevor Baker--who started Noble Cider in 2012 in a 1,000-square-foot building in Fletcher with wife Joanna and business partner Lief Stevens --says growth has been exponential. "It really was the right product at the right time at the right place." Noble, which estimates it will sell 14,000 gallons this year compared with 2,000 last year, just closed on a 9,000-square-foot building in west Asheville that it plans to turn into a tasting room and production space by early next year. But the cider industry has its challenges. The state excise tax is higher for wine than it...