2025 bottle drunk 2/9/26.
Rich, almost fudgey malts with toffee, vanilla and tasteful adjuncts, none of which smack you in the face. Excellent barrel strength with tons of spicey bourbon and slight coconut/toast from the barrel. They say English barleywine, and maybe it's just the bourbon masking it, but it feels more strong ale-like to me; like a hybrid stout-barleywine. Not a ton of raisin and fig and intense toffee like you'd expect from an English barleywine. The strength is sensed slightly, but there is nothing hot or sharp here.
Rich and malty in the mouth with a bit more English feel to it and some of the adjuncts being a bit easier to pick out. The fig is certainly there, showing a good mix of sweet, tart and floral and there's some cinnamon spice on the finish to help dry things. Dense, rich, sweet malts through and through with good barrel character and no overt alcohol or heat. Intense, rich stuff, but already the adjuncts have settled in nicely and it's sweet, but not too sweet for its size or its youth. Should develop nicely over the years.

Purchased at Lupulo in Santa Cruz, California.
Cute 12oz nip bottle pours with a kind of murky brown mahogany colored body that supports really no head at all. The aroma offers up brown sugar, dates, figs, sherry notes, a bit of caramel and a bit of toffee followed by cinnamon and booze. The taste delivers slick rich sweetness that quickly becomes more cinnamon and winter spice than it needs to in order to maintain some balance. Below the adjuncts are coconut, toffee and sweet dark fruity esters like brown sugar stewed dates and plums. Those notes mingle with sweet sugary sherry and boozy heat toward the finish. I think the holidazizing of this beer has reduced its greatness.