4.2 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Thanks Jason for sharing such a ridiculously rare beer. The beer pours to a deep brown mahogany body with a thin but rejuvenatible light khaki head. The aroma is sweet toffee and aged malts, sherry, and vanilla. This beer is holding it’s own despite the age. The flavor is sweet toffee, tobacco, sherry, and vanilla. The palate is medium bodied with a lingering sweetness.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
750mL bottle. Poured hazy medium plummy-amber with a short cap of tight beige head.. easily-resuscitated, but it didn’t stick around too long. The aroma picked up mild peppery warmth and oxidation over well-aged drawn caramel, molasses, and maple.. an almost oak-like note accented.. more vinous as it warmed up.. soft overall, with a lovely malt bill. The flavor found more maple and molasses at the core, with black pepper and vinous fruity notes laced throughout.. oxidation never hurt it, but it aided in drying out the palate.. dry and spicy over maple on the finish. Medium-plus bodied with very little carbonation on the palate.. dry and warm, but nowhere near where it should’ve been considering the ABV.. this held up really well, and I’m glad to have tried it.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle popped by Jason, huge, huge thanks. Pours murky reddish brown with thin tan head, didn’t last long but for a 11 year beer not surprising. Aroma has notes of rich toffee, sherry, some vanilla and slight fruitiness. Taste is nice and mellow with no signs of age, nice notes of sherry, vanilla, some nice fruit and toffee, subdued caramel notes and some nice sweetness, finishing nice and dry.
4.4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20
UPDATED: APR 3, 2011 Bottle poured at the brewery for The "Even" Year vertical tasting. Big tangy, rich malt nose, with well-masked alcohol. Immediately the texture comes across as intensely smoother than any of the others in the series. Creamy almost. Hardly oxidized. Spicy, with some light herbal character, bits of berries, and some vinous edges. I’m really blown away at how well this has held up. It’s very, very good and has aged gracefully. A wonderful opportunity to try such a worthy gem.
Flickr: http://flic.kr/p/9coZrU
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Part of our hotel room tasting, GABF 2007. Thanks to whoever brought it (pretty sure this one was from Captain Cougar or someone from the Atlanta crew). Smell instantly reminded me of De Horste Signature ale in the granulation of the brown sugar and sugar cane aromas, like you were sniffing a snifter full of pure cane sugars; also had an undertone of musty raisins like a Thomas Hardy’s. Very smooth in the mouth, overripe cherries and caramel on a medium-bodied beer. There’s some dunkel-ish grain flavor late, right before the finish settles in, and some thin grape juice character too. Nice, sweet, and rich, but not my ideal barley wine, which I like to be a bit more full-bodied and a bit hoppier.
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
From a 750mL Bottle. Generously shared by cquiroga. Mostly transparent, ruddy amber colored pour with a thin halo of whitish head. Rich aroma of sherried pears, brandied apricots, and figgy spice. Lots of complex, fruity higher alcohols generally reserved for the classic British style barleywines. The malt characters seem to have tailored off some, leaving behind a trail of fruity caramels and peanut brittle syrup. Medium bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel. A bit oxidized, expectedly so, but doesn’t destroy the beer by any means. Lots and lots of sherried fruits and notes of chewy caramel. Some leathery tannins work their way into the final smack, creating a somewhat tart, crisp finish that’s accentuated by some gentle black pepper higher alcohol spices. A bit past it’s prime, but still quite tasty. Thanks for sharing, Chris!
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Bottle shared by cquiroga on 10/12/07: Pours a transparent copper amber with a thin, wispy ring of light tan head. Aroma of sweet slightly earthy and oxidized caramel malt with some light fruity notes and mild cherry tartness. Body starts with a fairly full caramel sweetness with some sherry and light fruity complexity. Finishes with a touch of tartness and toffee. Seems to have held up pretty well with its age, but I’m pretty sure it’s past its prime.
4.2 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Poured a hazy ruby amber color with a thin off-white head. The aroma was of aged malt, raisins, plums, figs, alcohol and brown sugar. The flavor was full with fruity aged malt. Some thick notes of raisin flesh and brown sugar. medium bodied and very warming. Held up fine.
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