Mendocino Talon Barley Wine

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company (United Breweries Group)
Style: Barley Wine
Hopland, California USA

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

22 oz. bottle shared by dbsdelight- thanks, Dan! 2006 vintage. Pours a deep, cloudy brown color with a thin beige head. Aroma of grapes, brown sugar, caramel malts, toffee, and prunes. Flavor hits all the same notes, with a heavy emphasis on the fruits, especially for its age. Medium-bodied, with a sweet, syrupy mouthfeel and low carbonation. Nice barleywine, but I don’t think the 2006 bottles are going to get any better.

05-May-09 (22-oz bottle: BevMo La Jolla) Aged for about two years in the fridge, how much the beer has changed since bottled isn’t exactly clear, but if memory serves, it seems much smoother and integrated now. Flavors of sweet malt, focused caramel, dried apricot, plum, earth, and toffee. A touch of campfire smoke emerges in the finish after a few sips. Piney hops flavor is present but light and bitterness is gentle. Sweet, fruity aromas of peaches in syrup and dried apricots, plus a bit of earth and toasty malt behind the intense fruitiness. Smooth and full bodied on the palate, rich and fairly syrupy, but not cloying. Carbonation is light and soft. In the glass, the beer is clear and ruby-amber in color, and half an inch of light-tan head crowns the beer. Head retention is about average, fading to a wide, bubbly ring with a filmy sheen across the top. Overall, with a few years of aging, this is truly a wonderful barleywine. It’s simply delicious, a beer you want to keep sipping, a beer you’re sad is gone when the glass is empty, and isn’t that the sign of a great beer? Age this one, your patience will be rewarded.

Appearance: dark browns and blacks with mahogany highlights. Copper-tan head fizzes and fades into a decent collar while swirls leave blotchy lace.
Nose: huge malt bomb slaps me upside the head. Black strap, raisins, prunes, black breads, fruit cake, candied sugars. Spice and heat tickles in the back. Dates and chocolate mingle for an almost indistinguishable pair. Fudge. Cinnamon sticks and licorice root.
Palate: wow. Dry, spiced, wood, and a super dry finish which sucks the moisture from all surfaces inside my mouth; most pleasantly though I must add. Brittle burnt chocolates, dark. Overall quite in contrast with her nose. Lots of spices in the finish; brown and earthen. Dates, prunes, and chocolate mingle in the breath. Wood brushes across the top of my tongue in old-wood barrel style; whisky soaked. Dark sugars burn and crystallize and crumble and melt amidst my quaffing ministrations. Definitely benefits from warming up. Faint tart tingle front of tongue disappears as quickly as it appears.
Final Thoughts: I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I know what I got: phenomenal. A massively tasty Barleywine I could easily while away the hours on a cold, dark, and stormy night…or any night for that matter.

22 oz bomber from Canal’s Hainesport. Poured a good looking deep reddish/brown with an average sized beige tightly packed frothy head. Aroma is solid with notes of caramel, toffee, raisin, nuts, dates, bread, and a touch of alcohol. Palate was pretty damn good with a medium body and a slight hint of syrupyness that was very appropriate for the style, carbonation was light and the aftertaste was heavy and lingering. Flavors of caramel, toffee, slight citrus, nuts, toast and a hint of alcohol soaked cardboard. Overall a good beer and then when you throw the price in this becomes a great beer.

Quite nice. A more subltle barley wine. Poured a medium sized, light tan, foamy, frothy head that settle out after a bit and some lace. Color is a very nice, clear garnet with red highlights. Aroma is dry and bitter malt with hop. Flavor is similar to nose but has some sweetness behind the up front bitterness. Body is full yet soft. Carbonation seems to work well. Finish is pretty long and like flavor plus a strong alcohol factor. This could sneak up on you.

Amber color. Caramel malts on the nose. Alcohol very prevalent with bitter hoppiness. Good barley wine

22oz bottle. Pours a clear, deep amber-ruby colored body with a thin, beige, creamy head that dissipates slowly and leaves a good amount of lacing. Aroma is sweet, somewhat candied malts with a good amount of caramels and berry fruits. Decently hopped with some orange pines and florals. Flavor is similar. Sweet oranges and candied malts. Lots of caramel and toffee with some berries and a touch of herbal spice. Finishes with plenty of sweet malts and a moderate piney bitterness that dries and leaves a rich, fruity, lengthy aftertaste. Full, very smooth, somewhat sticky body with a very light carbonation. Overall, a nice barley wine. Lots of malts, but not overly sweet and a solid, sweeter orange pine and floral hopping.

Bomber from Warehouse Liquors in Spring Hill, FL. I am pretty sure this one is a year old. Pours opaque dark caramel color with a tan head. Nose is caramel and toffee with dates, some figs, and some raisins. Hints of sugar and a tiny booziness come out later. Flavor is a ton of toffee with bits of date, fig, raisin, and earthiness abound. Very English and very enjoyable without so much as a hint of its 10%. I could drink this whole bomber.

Bottle at a tasting.
Appearance : Dark brown, small head.
Aroma : Sweet and roasty. Resinous hops. A bit of oxidation maybe. Notes of green apples also.
Taste : Sweet brown sugar, notes of apples. Some oxidation. Fruity with hops. Some malt also. Rather hoppy on the finish.
Overall : Nothing really interesting. Not bad but just nothing really worth drinking it again.

raisin, nuts, chewy, reddish color. This was aged about 3 years, very smooth. Probably should have saved till winter but I broke it out. Bitter finish with something like molasses perhaps.