Stone Old Guardian (Vintages 2004 and later)

Excellent aroma of cane sugar, molasses and cherries. Tastes much of the same, except the complexities all seem to fall into a brown sugarness with the final lingering flavor. A really great barley wine.

Bottle. Poured a beautiful orange amber with thin off-white head. Nice lacing. Strong sweet malty aroma, floral, with some alcohol present. Resinous strong hops and forward malt. Oily with a medium body.

Pours a brownish orange color with a small off-white head. Aroma is sweet, very hoppy and fruity. Flavor is peach, light alcohol and slight butterscotch. Medium to full body, smooth texture. Nice dry finish.

(22 oz. bottle (2007) via trade with shigadeyo, thanks Craig!, cellared for 11 mos. after trade) Pours hazy dark amber with perhaps a slight rusty-red tint. Thin off-white head. Aroma of toffee, vanilla and pine. Mouthfeel smooth, almost soft, with some stickiness. Light, fine, droopy lacing, somewhat sloppy. Syrupy film coats inside of snifter. Flavor was fairly big but not overly complex. Toffee and caramel overlain by pine and grapefruit rind. Medium strong bitter bite carries from fore through finish. Fairly hot but not overwhelming. As beer warmed the flavor seemed to kind of flatten out to just caramel candy sweetness, pine and alcohol rather than developing any more complexity. Still a good barleywine if slightly simple and a little harsh.

22 oz bomber from BottleTrek.com. Pours dark copper, with a thin head, big airy carbonation. Aroma and flavor is somewhat complex. Fruity, raisins, with an oak bourbon finish. The malts quckly balance out the hoppiness. You can feel the alcohol burn, however, it is subtle for being over 11%. Nice sipping beer.