Great, slightly hazy deep amber coloured body with a rich copper glow, thinnish, relatively fast-dying tan head, about two centimetres at first with a deep, 70% opacity with some beautiful ruby and full copper colour tints when held up to a light. Aroma of super assertive oak, alcohol, pit fruits, pure caramel, salt, bourbon, vanilla and a bit more of the alcohol and sugars - quite potent for sure. Full-bodied; Strong rich malty flavours with a bunch of alcohol and malts around, but the vanilla smoothness, the rich pitted fruit sugars and pure richness throughout make this quite easy to drink, even with the large ABV content. Aftertaste shows more sugars and oak/barrel than I can imagine, but an amazingly compact yet complex palate with a ton of flavours, somehow only in a unique box which shows and tastes extremely well with a deep bite of the alcohol and pungency, but mellowed out by the sweetness, the complexities and the overall pleasant and satisfying malt richness with alcohol throughout. Overall, a great beer that is one of the better Barley Wines that I've had in a long time, which I believe has something to do with the aging, which made this very nice, incredibly complex yet deep and rich. Definitely worth trying if you can find a bottle of this (I'm not sure how often they brew this) and if you already have it, probably hold onto it for another several years, this is worth it! I sampled this corked and caged 75 cL bottle purchased from Costco in Pentagon City (Arlington), Virginia on 13-December-2014 for US$17,99, which is fairly expensive, especially at Costco, aged nicely in an unfinished basement for just over three years, sampled at home in Washington on 14-December-2017, just more than three years after purchasing this bottle. My bottle was from Blend #5 and the size/format of this bottle was much too large for the style and alcohol percentage, and would be much more enjoyable as a single twelve ounce bottle. Perhaps keep this even longer than I did and it may be even better!!!

Pours a thin beige head which stayed on rich, reddish brown, lightly carbonated body. Huge aroma of dark chocolate, raisins, cocoa, coffee & demerara. Medium to full bodied, so smooth, feels like oil on the palate. No carbonation & slightly cloying. Over ripe fruit, dark berries, demerara, honey, stewed fruit & stewed fruit tastes - I could go on & on!

10th July 2017
Bodney Towers Bottleshare. Big thanks to Leighton for this pricey barleywine. Blend 001. Hazy amber beer, small cream colour head. Smooth light palate, modest fine carbonation. Smooth creamy malts. Lovely fruity bourbon which resolves into some a rawer bourbon. Mild spice and mixed berry fruits. Traces of wood and vanilla. Light finish. Wow! Really drinks easy for it's massive abv. Delightful.

Håndverkølfestivalen 2017. Red amber color with a beige head. Aroma is sourness, fruit, malt, caramel, vanilla. flavor is malt, caramel, sourness, alcohol, fruit, vanilla, sugar, floral. Full body. Warming nice beer.