8.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5

12oz bottle from Boise Co-op. Mahogany pour, fizzy head, then still. Aroma from snifter starts with a big boozy blast, notes from the barrel, chocolate, brandy. Taste, after the booze clears, is sweet and malty, leather, tobacco, toffee. Sweet, sticky finish. Very enjoyable.

8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Bottle @ Kom nu Erik-share thanks to bursprak! Pours muddy brown, still. Aromas of tobacco, sweet brandy, apples, prunes, caramel, vanilla. Taste has licorice, apples, orange, sweet malty caramel, walnuts, booze.

9

Caramel brandy oak 4.4

7.9

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

2011 bottle, drunk 8/4/16.
Dark mahogany with burgundy-amber highlights and a dark beige head atop that is small and shows moderate to low retention. Clarity is high.
Soft, rich, "Sweet" brandy in the nose with easygoing oakiness, tons of chocolate-caramel maltiness and a big vinousness-like prune character adding balancing acidity. Definitely some oxidation at this point, but nothing inappropriate for its five year age. There’s certainly some dry, light suggestions of alcohol, but nothing you’d like what you’d expect given it’s 15.2% tag. It certainly is all balanced easily by the massive maltiness. Tobacco, vanilla, grape, fudge and more caramel linger long on the finish with no flaw.
In the mouth, it’s softly-malty in texture, very comforting, as expected, with tons of various dark malt notes of chocolate fudge, prune and vanilla. The balance leans towards sweet, of course, but it’s not over-oaked, the brandy character is wonderful, and it’s still fairly balanced, overall. The oxidation is a bit strong here, but I’ve always found that to work pretty well in the style, so it doesn’t really bother me. Alcohol nicely restrained. Pretty similar, if somewhat less elegant, than Angel’s Share. Very low carbonation, but not problematically so.

8.3

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

500 ml bottle (v2011) from trade with RobertDale. Thank you Bob! Dark ruby copper brown color with no head. Malty aroma, caramel, light chocolate, dark fruits, dried fruits, raisins, plums, light wood, alcohol - brandy. Sweet taste like aroma, dark dried fruits. Medium oily sticky body with flat carbonation.

7.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Pours hazy mahogany into a tulip. Off-white head quickly recedes to nothing. Sweet brandy and caramel aromas. Medium bodied with sweet molasses and raisin upfront turning sharp in the lasting warm vanilla oak burn finish.

8.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Bottle [from trade with Heyta, thanks!] @ weekly tasting shared with Joes. Nice medium dark red color, average sized quickly diminishing beige head. Aroma is malts, brandy, slightly nuts, raisins, dark fruits, oak, slightly vanilla. Taste malts, loads of brandy again, nuts, raisins, dark fruits, oak and vanilla. It’s all present in the aroma as well as in the flavor. Alcohol in the flavor as well, it’s quite heavy and strong. Sweetish, dark fruit sweetness, definitely an oak touch to it as well. Incredibly tasty!

8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Poured from a 500 ml bottle, cellar reserve 2011. Aroma is malt and booze. Moderate brandy notes with light oak. Quite a bit of dark caramel and toffee with lighter toasted bread and treacle. Moderate raisin, fig and prune. Pours a very merry, muddy-like, brown with a bit of an auburn hue and a small, thin, tan head that quickly recedes to the edges. No lacing and moderate legs. Flavor is fairly sweet with quite a bit of caramel and toffee. Medium light toasted bread notes. Moderate treacle with a hint of chocolate and roast. Medium high bitterness. Some moderately strong notes of raisins, figs, prunes and plums. Medium light brandy and light oak notes. Hints of alcohol. Mouthfeel is medium full bodied with low carbonation. Low astringency and medium to medium low alcohol warmth. Overall, a pretty tasty beer, but its also very sweet and slightly boozy. Nice fruit notes that work well to integrate the brandy and malt. Very enjoyable and complex, but also too sweet to enjoy too much of.

7.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

50 cl bottle vintage 2011 (15,2%) @ olio
Aroma has cellar tones, ripe fruits, vanilla and raisins. Intensive sniffing: only sugary sweet raisins. Flavour starts with some odd plastic aroma but then turns into strong porto, sweet sugary tones, raisins, ripe fruits and some sherry. Also vanilla is present. Warming alcohol tones in the finish. After some sips all I taste is raisins and alcohol. Nice slow sippin’ sherry or porto, but a beer? Not sure if.

7.6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

500ml bottle from Healthy Spirits, San Francisco, CA

2011 vintage - Pours dark brown, almost black with a small head. Aroma of raisin, ripe berries, sweet malts, syrup, brandy, stingy wood, oak and apples. Taste is complex, vinous, sweetish, heavy and syrupy with loads of port and brandy notes, ripe apples, stingy wood, oak, toffee and caramel. Finish is complex, vinous and layered with loads of ripe apples, port notes, toffee, caramel, oak and vanilla. Tastes more like a dessert wine than a beer. Complex and an extremely slow sipper.