12oz bottle pours with a clear amber body that has thin copper edges and supports a thin dirty white head. The aroma offers up dark fruity esters, candy sugar, ripe cherries, some molasses and malts and then just a touch of smoke around the edge of the experience. Nice aroma. The taste is smooth and pretty rich with cherries, candi sugar, malts and a slight molasses note. To midway a modest roasted maltiness surfaces to add some balance to the sweetness. Nice stuff and I get snippets of smoky malts here and there too.

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, best before 1/20/2014. Pours fairly crystal clear orange copper color with a 1 finger dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of raisin, plum, caramel, toast, toffee, brown bread, chocolate, light roast, pine, floral, and herbal/yeast earthiness. Nice aromas with good balance and complexity of malt and moderate hop notes; with good strength. Taste of raisin, plum, caramel, toast, toffee, chocolate, brown bread, light roast, floral, pine, grass, and herbal earthiness. Light amount earthy pine bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark fruit, caramel, toast, toffee, chocolate, brown bread, light roast, floral, and light pine on the finish for a good bit. Nice balance and robustness of malt and hop flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a moderately creamy and lightly slick mouthfeel that is good. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming present after the finish. Overall this is a nice winter warmer style. Good balance and robustness of malt and earthy/spicy hop flavors; and smooth to sip on. A nicely enjoyable offering.

Malty

Bottle. Caramel, chocolate, and nutty spice aroma. Clear chestnut with a small off-white head. Caramel, roasty barley malt, chocolate, spice flavor with a light bitter hop finish. Not too bad.

12 ounce bottle. dark reddish brown color topped by a creamy beige head.Subtle roasted malt aroma. Sweet roasted malt flavor with hints of cocoa and coffee. Some spicy bitterness in finish. Subtle and uneventful, as Christmas ales go. Great label!

It's the only Christmas beer I get around here so how can I
say anything bad? ;^) No really, not super spiced up like most of the winter's and for me,
that's a good thing. This is a very attractive and quite nice to drink ale.

Bottle on Amtrak Train 27 - The Empire Builder ( from Binny’s South Loop) - 04/11/12. Clear chestnut brown with a thin off white head. Dark toffee on the nose allied to dark fruits, a little spice and some medicinal tones. Taste follows nose with a little cruit cake mix, malt, bread, raisens, sultanas and dates. Medium bodied with soft carbonation. A little on the dull side.

Bottle, from the bottle - so no real good "appearance" value. Aroma from bottle was light caramel malt, with spice. Flavor was sweet malts, spice notes. Okay, but a bit "artificial" but enjoyed enough.