 DruncanVeasey (1499), Burbage, Germany
May 8, 2008
2003 vintage unearthed somewhere in NYC by Nav, and prised deferentially open to mark my 2nd RB ’birthday’. Any excuse. Octo’s snifter hissed a bit and resolved into a beautiful headless red amber, mine poured muddier with an evanescent fizz of beige. Fat raisiny nose with sticky Belgian liquorice hints, caramel, buttery malt, barrel, orange rind (hops?), honey, sickbowl, and a great big friendly slap in the face of (sherryish) booze. Sweet, mellow and rounded in the mouth with hardly any indication of the whopping ABV. SERIOUS pruney dried fruit mellowness threatening to set my ears on fire. Instantaneously face-warming, but no alcohol burn whatsoever. Buttery orange fruit upfront, melding into figroll, dipped Twiglet, thick medicinal coughsweet honey, vanilla, varnish and tobacco. Just a nibble of bitterness on the end to stop things getting excessively cloying. The best 5 year old 15% ABV American barley wine I’ve ever tasted. If, admittedly, the first. Good sessions beer.
jeremytoni (526), Swedesboro, New Jersey, USA
Jul 5, 2008 From a bottle poured dark amber color with a fair amount of head. Very sweet flavor with an alcohol finish.
Beerman6686 (504), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Jul 4, 2008 Poured an amber color with an off white head. Aroma was composed of very sweet malts and dark fruits, and hops, and alcohol. Flavor was a extremely sweet, just enough hops to balance it out and hide the enormous ABV.
polomagnifico (380), Saginaw, Michigan, USA
Jun 29, 2008 2005 vintage Bottle thanks to dchmela!! Aroma of sweet dark dried fruits, caramel, old leather, and winter spice. Very good and delicate. Pours a gorgeous medium amber brown bourbon hue with a small head that fully diminished but did leave some lace. Flavor is vanilla, caramel, alcohol, metal, and dark dried fruits. Palate is cloying, full bodied and oily flat. A very good aged barley wine but a little bit too cloying. Great aroma and flavor though. Top notch with a few years on her.
Tweety (151), Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Jun 25, 2008 "Really Old Beers and Really Stinky Cheeses" tasting session at ACBF 2008. From the 2004 bottling. Really strong, lots of malt up front. Really lots of malt all the way through. The cheese pairing helped this one out, mellowing the sweetness, but still, just a little too much sweetness.
sebletitje (103), Tampa, Florida, USA
Jun 23, 2008 Hard to believe this is a 15% abv beer. Pours amber/orange color. Malty, sweet sugary with few hints of fruits, smooth citrus/orange and raisiins. One bottle is enough, sip and enjoy it.
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