750 ml bottle into snifter; no bottle dating, but was just released. Feathers glued on the top, which smell pretty freshly plucked oddly enough. Pours very hazy deep ruby red/orange/copper color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky light khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice dense foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, raisin, plum, cherry, peach, pear, fig, date, apricot, red apple, vanilla, spicy rye, whiskey, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, and brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, roast, smoke, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/toast/oaky earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/rye/bready malts, fruity yeast, rye whiskey barrels, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, raisin, plum, cherry, peach, pear, fig, date, apricot, red apple, vanilla, spicy rye, whiskey, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, and brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, roast, smoke, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/toast/oaky earthiness. Light-moderate pine, herbal, grassy, peppery hop bitterness; and rye, whiskey, oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, dark fruit, cherry, peach, pear, apricot, red apple, vanilla, spicy rye, whiskey, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, brown bread/crust, light licorice/molasses, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/toast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/rye/bready malts, fruity yeast, rye whiskey barrels, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness, and rye/whiskey/oak spiciness balance; with no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness and rye/whiskey/oak tannin spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready/grainy, fairly sticky/tannic, and lightly chalky mouthfeel that is great. Mildly increasing warmth of 12%, with no barrel booziness lingering after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic barrel aged rye strong ale! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/rye/bready malts, fruity yeast, rye whiskey barrels, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV; with the mellowly bitter/spicy/tannic/drying finish. Fantastic balance of rich malts, fruity English yeast, and rye whiskey barrel presence/integration. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering bitter/spicy/tannin dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing style example. Definitely a lot more impressive than the Rye'd Chiquen base beer. Richer malt complexity, and more barrel presence.

9th September 2014
Black Heart. Keg. Hazy deep red - amber beer, small pale cream colour head. Palate is wonderfully smooth with good fine carbonation. Sweet malts - delicious toffee caramel cream. Mild vanilla oak and lovely mellow bourbon, slightly fruity. Whisper of sweet ester. Smooth finish. Mellow bourbon linger. Stonking!

Draft from notes. Hazy deep golden amber color, medium white head. Aroma of lightly spiced vanilla, caramel. Taste is whiskey, vanilla, spice. Chewy mouthfeel. Good stuff.

Draft. Raisin, orange, toffee, rye malt and alcohol aroma. Dark brown with minimal head. Sweet raisin, orange, rye bread malt flavor. Spectacular blending. Alcohol well hidden. Somehow smoother than regular Kentucky Ryed Chiquen.