Robinsons Old Tom

Big, rich & complex, this is initially quite sweet and malty, but dry fruity acids appear on the lasting finish. A superb beer,one for sipping,have not tried this for years( last tried in a Manchester pub many years ago, on draught...but enough of that!) A very fine beer indeed!

Re-rating this fellow. A bottle shared with Gareth_Young with a use by date of may 1988, so at least 18 years old. Suprizingly opens with some fizz, i mean how WTF! Pours excellentlywith head. Aroma is complex, woody, port, lightly spicey and what i think to be a little soy sauce, but this may just be what remains of the dark fruits. Taste is similarly complex and a great experiance alround, stupidly drinkable for the % and age, though it doesnt say what % it is on the bottle. ...................................I really need to try this on cask again soon. This without doubt the most complex british beer iv ever had. Aroma is dark fruits: rasin, dried apricots, berry fruits, and spice and malt and ahhh goodness. Taste is similarly complex with a good deal going on with the alcohol not sayign anything, unlike what i remember of the cask vertion where it can dominate too much, siuch a great beer and one i would like to maybe age for a good 10 years or so to see what its like.

Beautiful dark full bodied ale. Just the thing to savour with a lovely salty snack, but definitely not for the pint!

Bottle. Black, opaque, small tan head. Very nice aroma consisting of perfume, alcohol, apples, candy...seductive but not overpowering. Classy flavor. Sweetness of many fruits (esp figs), strength of a respectable amount of alcohol, mellowness from the strong dark malts. Well-done, Robinsons.

Oct, 2002: Bottle. Splendid! I love a well made old ale - and this is meltingly sweet, deep and delicious like a favourite big warm quilt. Except that quilts aint usually sweet... mmm: like a favourite big warm Mars Bar? No? Like eating a big warm Mars Bar while wrapped inside a big warm quilt? Mmmm. Like drinking a big warm ruby port while eating a big warm Mars Bar while wrapped in a favourite big warm quilt! Yes! But the sweetness gets a bit sickly after a while. [3.6]
Sept, 2006 This is not as sweet as I recorded from my last time. Indeed, there is a constant buzzing bitterness, and a fresh, oily hop burn. The hops taste really fresh and juicy and aromatic. Mmmm. This is a splendid beer. Lip smackingly gorgeous. Plenty of malt, with a good malty sweetness, hints of chocolate, hints of tobacco, figs, brown sugar, burning, fresh well soaked Goldings, as well as aromatic Goldings. I’m really getting into these hops. Alcohol is there, and it’s warm and heady, yet never overwhelming. Hmm. There’s suggestions of Chimay about this. A great, enjoyable, flavoursome, balanced and spanking strong ale. Memories and suggestions of strong Belgian ales and strong American ales. No matter the country: a strong ale is a strong ale - and this is a beauty