8.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8

Canned 1/10/25, drunk 1/10/26, as pictured.
Rich and gooey caramel-toffee-vanilla with mild amburana spice and a bit more chocolate and touches of roast than your average non-black barleywine, which is welcome here, I think. No alcohol, though the sugar seems quite high, at least based on the nose.
Holy smokes, that's THICK. Oddly thick, rich and intense, yet somehow not too sweet nor too sticky/syrupy. Amburana spice is pretty restrained and the rich caramel-toffee-vanilla has rounded oak and reasonable attenuation, as well as light roast/chocolate to help keep it under control. Again, no alcohol noted here at all, which is impressive for being (exactly) one year old.

Love the amburana, but it doesn't have the elegance of most whiskeys. Leaves me wanting a bit more complexity, despite the texture, flavor and balance all be superlative here.

7.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Sampled from the tap at El Bait Shop. Pours a clear deep amber brown with a tan that dissipates quickly to the edges. Aroma has sweet dark grains and a bit of barrel backing. Flavor has notes of grsss and hay with a growing citrus and bread backbone.

8

The name promised maple, got amburana instead. Disappoint. Fairly nice still.

8

Sweet, syrupy and woody with some spiciness, cinnamon, hints of barrel and oaky notes, loads of maltiness. A bit heavy but quite complex slow sipper.

9

Big fan of the amburana in this, nice cinnamon cloves all over, deep dark chocolate and hints of maple syrup sweetness.