Fullers Vintage Ale 2005

Pours a deep reddish orange, thin dissipating off white head.
Aroma is nice and subtle. Has a quite defined dark fruit raisin/date character. Bready malt underlies a spicey alcohol aroma.
Flavour is raisiny, with a warming spiciness, and a full bitterness. There is some brown sugar sweetness, finishes warm and spicy.
Quite balanced after 4 years, more barley wine like flavours.

Bottled. Amber coloured. Unclear. Aroma of ripe fruits, sweetness, spice, light berries and ligth alcohol. Quite dense and balanced. Flavour a bit more subdued. Sweetness, berries, alcohol, spice and light citrus. Medium bodied. Sweetish and fruity end. Light alcholburnt on lips.

Pours a clear orange with a big head. Aromas of cherry and sweet malt with some earthy tones and some apple. The flavor is woody with some earthiness some apple, a good warming alcohol, and some faint chocolate. Just kind of oxidized, but not too bad.

On the nose: Darker fruits, like berries. Brown/raw sugar. Herb and flowers, quite nice. Some yeast. Flavour: Slight hop bitterness, plus some ethanol bitterness. Dark fruits. Rather straight forward.

Bottle #26403. Well, at least it produced one terrific head, tan with excellent lacing. The colour was a dark yet clear amber, but the aroma was unremarkable, and I’m thinking this one had maybe gone a bit "off" despite being kept in a cool, dark place since purchase (Christmas of 2005); still in the box, even, Taste and mouthfeel were both thin and flat. I’m underwhelmed, and hope my Vintage 2006 is better.

Earthy, woody hop notes over caramel and toffee malt base in the nose with some hints of alcohol. Clear copper coloured body is topped by a low, dense, fine bubbled, cream coloured head that recedes to a lasting cover with some spotty lacing. Earthy and floral hops over chewy toffee-like malt character with some alcohol apparent and the beginnings of some sherry-like oxidation. Medium body with pleasant, moderate, soft bubbled carbonation. Bottle #26729 sampled with uhlan at the Fuller’s vertical tasting session.

Bottle from radiomgb. (bb Dec 31, 2008). Translucent copper - a little lighter than the 2004. Small beige head sticks around for a while. Aroma is thin caramel, MacIntosh apples, and a touch of alcohol. Flavour is fresh fruit (apples, pears), caramel, maple, and a touch of earthy hops. Some mild spice on the tongue near the end. Slight alcohol and some hop bitterness in the finish. Body is medium to full, and the carbonation is about right. Quite pleasant. Not sure that further aging would improve this any.

Tasted 30/05/2009. 500ml bottle from Regional Wines and Spirits. Very interesting that this is the lowest ratest vintage on here and I find it the best - perhaps the malt was too much in the early days. It has aged superbly. Great balance of caramel malt and spicy orange hops. The Fuggles do marvellous things with aged crystal malts. Only the merest hint of autolysis. 2008 could be this good in a few years. Magic.