Tasted from a ten year old bottle I found in a forgotten corner of the cellar today, must have been one of the first batches. Pours a beautiful deep ruby red colour glowing in the autumn sun, clear; head formation is limited due to its age (and style) but with gentle forcing, a loose, milky, pale beige head appears (not a trace of pink) with quite good retention. ’Old’ lambic aroma with sour cherries abounding, apart from hints of sundried tomatoes, raspberry vinegar, unsweetened yoghurt, very old sherry or madera, musty cellar, dried lemon peel, earth, dust, damp cloth, passion fruit, raw red cabbage, sweat. Taste immediately very estery and fruity, sour cherries drenched in red wine, mellowish lactic acid, red grapefruit, soft carbonation but still some champenoise tingling on the tongue, barnyard funkiness, old sherry, Brett leather effect becoming increasingly stronger in the finish, which is dried completely by the lambic and fruit acidity as well as woodiness (also from the cherry stones), therefore lasting very long, even a bit coarse, but very pleasant if you are into this style. I tasted this fresh some years back and admittedly, the fresh, crisp cherry sourness has decreased a bit, but in this old bottle you get a more noble, rounded and elegant character. Very interesting to taste at this age - as is always the case in the authentic lambics. Had this right after a young Oud Beersel Oude Kriek and though style-wise they are basically the same thing, it is not hard to come to the conclusion that beers of this level of complexity have a necessarily very different character. I’ll never get tired of this most complex of all beer styles.

750 ml "champagne" green bottle, as De Oude Cam Exclusief Oude Kriek, bottled January 2009. ABV is 6.5%. At Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Beautiful red colour, moderate pink head. Intense and lovely aroma of sour cherries, farmhouse and almonds / marzipan. Relatively light bodied. The flavour is quite sour, but not extreme. Sour cherries of course, not very sweet, with a dry finish.

Bottle, 2005 vintage, with hella thanks to bull11zeye! Pours hazy red with minimal lacing and little head. Aroma has strong cherry notes, cherry skins and stems, some funk, musty basement and barnyard. Flavor is cherry skins, cherries, funky basement stuff. Light plus tartness, but really drying on the palate. Gets better as you get into it and ends up quite lovely. Medium body, flat carbonation. Nice nice nice.

Sample I sort of ran across courtesy of Masse (non-RB). Thanks man, have been hoping to try this for quite some time. Pours vibrant hazy ruby red with a rather small frothy pinkish white head that leaves some soapy trace on the glass while dissipating. Smell is sour, fruity and funky with crackers, sour cherries, lemon juice, leather, barnyard, hay, dry soil, horseblanket, lemon zest, cherry pits and hints of cherry pie. Taste is sour, fruity and funky with crackers, tons of sour cherries, lemon juice, grapefruit juice, leather, dry soil, hay, barnyard, horseblanket, cherry hard candy, unripe raspberries, red currants and moist wood. Mouthfeel is dry, tart, mouthpuckering and medium bodied. Finish is sour, fruity and funky with crackers, sour cherries, grapefruit juice, lemon zest, hay, leather and barnyard. Very very nice...