Baladin Xyauyù Etichetta Rame (Copper Label)

Brewed by Le Baladin
Style: Barley Wine
Piozzo, Italy

Serve in Snifter

Bottle. Pours murky brown. Nose and taste of toffee, sweet caramel, tea, dark fruits and nuts. A bit watery at times.

Held up to the light, a soft haze of suspended dregs gazed back at me in a sea of ruby Porto. Very little apparent carbonation, no head, no ringlet, and no lace, all of which I wasn’t really expecting given the unique nature of this beer. Her nose is one of the richest I have observed in a beer other than Utopias and a few rare others. Caramelized sugars are everywhere the nose can smell; brown sugar, molasses, and maple. Cherries, grapes, and plums soak in old port barrels, the wood stained in ruby and amber. Red licorice, canned black cherries, gomme syrup, brownies, and dates weight heavily upon my senses. I have my suspicions this is a beer to be shared amongst a few and not just one. Sticky and instantly lip-coating, plums take center stage and never wholly leave; red, purple, black, and varieties I am unaware of spill their juices upon my tongue for all my tastebuds to revel in. She bares the weight of her palate in the center and finishes short and fast. I am grateful for the short finish; her richness would quickly overwhelm otherwise. Powdered sugar sprinkles atop black cherries, peaches, and kiwi while chocolate truffles melt in the mouth, not the hand. The combination of sugar sweetness, chocolate, and cherries culminate in cherry cordials ready for eating with her port notes a subtle accent content to rest in the background while warmth slowly fills my chest. As I slowly sip through my bottle, plums and prunes continue their juicy escapades across sticky lips as I find little else of change to note.

An amazing beer in every way; from the way she was brewed, aged, conditioned, bottled, and ultimately tasted, the Xyauyu Copper 2005 from Baladin Birrifico was a tasting revelation. If you ever stumble across any of the Xyauyu bottlings, be sure to take one home and when you are ready to pop that cork, find a few friends, share, and enjoy. On the beer alone, there will be more than enough to talk about.

500mL courtesy of Travlr. Poured a completely flat clear amber that is syrupy like brandy and leaves very good legs like a good cordial. Aroma is quite good: grappa, sherry, brandy, caramel, red grapes. Taste is very syrupy sweet to almost cloying. No spicy alcohol. Mostly clover/orange blossom honey, maple syrup, red grapes, grape seeds. It’s certainly not bad, but it is just so overtly sweet and produces no head and no carbonation so the palate is a little overwhemed by sweetness. It would do well as sherry or mead or maybe eisbocked into ice cream sundae syrup. In fact, I would probably score this much higher if I were told, "hey try this mead!" instead of "hey, try this very expensive barleywine similar to Utopias."

Bottle shared with tarheels86 and his better half. Dark copper color, no carbonation, completely flat. Aroma of caramel and strong alcohol. Thick and syrupy, extremely sweet, like flan on steroids.

(500ml "copper" bottle, 2004 vintage) Pours a clear amber body with a spare off-white head. Aroma of apple, butterscotch, honey, florals, and brandy. Flavor of apple, caramel, raisins, toffee, alcohol, port, and butterscotch.

How do you pronounce the name? 2005 bottle, thanks to KnN for sharing. Very sherry-like aroma, with no carbonation. Flavor is sherry, white grapes, orange, caramel, very sweet and sticky. Absolutely delicious sipper.

Bottle @ Open Baladin, Rome. Pours unclear golden with no head. Nose is rich and vinous. Port and dark fruit. Extremely vinous and delicious. Dark fruit, port and oak. Low carbonation. Tannins. Some warmth. Complex and better than the silver for sure.

2005 Bottle. Pours deep red, no head at all. Aroma is amazing, sherry, port, vinous, but malty. The malt is so subtle but very appreciated. Flavor is full, rich, round, earthy, sherry notes. This was an amazing beer.