Bottle (from saveur biere). ´Pours black with brownish head. The head doesn’t stay. Aroma is very sweet, vanilla, malt, peat, somewhat medicinal. Flavor is sweet and bitter, peat, malt, dark chocolate, roast, booze, a lot of booze, Overall: very good, but too boozy.

Amost no head, but slowly forming yellow-beige film over virtually black beer; Phenols, tarr, Lapsan Souchong, smoked malt. Sweet and smoked/phenols, alcohol, Islay Malt. Finish is both peppery and smokey. Lots of molasses underneath. Well bodied, but still feeling thinnish,,probably due to alcoholthinning. Sticky, alcoholwarming. A tad less complex than most of these, falling a bit flat, but with reasonable balance.

Bottle @ home. Opaque black color, medium to full sized beige to light brown head that lasts for quite a long time. Aroma is malts, a hint of smoke and some peat initially. Taste malts, ash, peat, smoke, dark malts, iodine, alcohol. Too much peat and smoke for me to like it. Not my thing, but if you like smoke and peat you’ll like this beer I think. As I said though, not my thing.

Bottle at home. Almost black with a dark beige film with a cluster of big bubbles, no real head. Peat smoke up front, though not overpowering. Coffee, lime, roasted notes mixed with tropical fruits. Lots of dark chocolate, peated whisky, faint vanilla, fresh cardboard, very old wood. There’s some soft caramel and sugary notes under the big roast and smoke. Medium sweet and bitter. Over medium bodied with a bit oily feel and barely any carbonation. I was a bit afraid to open this because of the Port Charlotte barrel, but the peat is not too strong and works quite well with the base beers. Good stuff.

0.33 l bottle from ’De Bierkoning’, best before March 2021. Very dark red to black with a thin, frothy, light brown head. Very peaty, slightly roasty aroma of tar, ash, iodine and hints of dark chocolate. Sweetish-malty, slightly roasty and rather peaty taste of dark chocolate, sweet coffee, molasses, tar, ash, iodine and hints of tropical fruits, followed by a long, very peaty, roasty-bitter and slightly warming finish. Just over medium body, slightly creamy mouthfeel, almost flat. The aroma is totally dominated by the barrel, but the taste has enough malty sweetness for the balance. The peaty flavours also diminish the longer the beer is in the glass, and it is finally a very tasty and moreish beer that only lacks a bit of body. Even if not totally round, it is another good beer from Emelisse.

Almost black with a Guinness-esque falling cream head. Aroma of leather, iodine and hints of sweet berry fruits. The flavour also picks up on these complexities. It’s intense and although this barrel / whisky is not my favourite I admire the ability to add enough sweetness to give it balance and drinkability.

Bottle from Biernavigatie, large sample. Dark color, short frothy head. Aroma of peat, iodine, medicine, some roast. Overdone on the barrel. Quite sweet initially in taste of chocolate, after which the dry peaty whisky comes through. Bit too much for me and the base beer is overwhelmed by the barrel.