Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Panda at home, thanks to Kenneth, 21/03/2026.
Extremely dark mahogany brown topped with a beige cap that thins to a swirl.
Nose is coffee grinds, herb, spruce note, dark malts.
Taste comprises coffee bean, spice, light roast, dates, melted brown sugar.
Full bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close with a balanced rising boost.
Tidy sipper if just a touch overly sweet.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

22nd February 2026
Bottle. Near clear dark amber - brown, small bubbly tan head. Smooth palate, semi dry, decent fine carbonation. Airy palate, semi dry, good fine carbonation. The malts are pretty light, unsweet caramel and dark toffee, a little malt cream. Good spicy rye whiskey barrel, a touch of oak induced vanilla and plenty of whiskey soaked ripe fruits. Now I've read Tiong's review, the prunes are obvious. The coffee is pretty modest and, that is probably a good thing. Just a subtle enhancement with a mild earthyness and a little more richness under the ripe fruits. Pretty quaffable barleywine.

Left. Sweet, stingy woody and slightly roasty with some bourbon, rye, chocolate, coffee, raisins, vanilla, prunes and earthiness, hints of licorice, syrup and toffee. A bit unbalanced, quite heavy and intense. Gets slightly better as it warms up

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

(Keg at CoolHead Taproom, 20251213) The beer poured black. Its head was tiny and white. Aroma had wood, coffee, vanilla, toasted malts and toffee. Palate was full bodied, dry and warming with low carbonation. Flavours were toasted malts, wood, vanilla, coffee, spiciness, toffee and bitterness. Aftertaste had toasted malts, vinous notes, coffee and bitterness. A tasty blend of barrel effects.