Delicious evening sipper. Classy and tasty stuff.
Black color with a fine tan head. Ok lacing. Solid intensity in the aroma. Full body and a pleasant soft carbonation. Not to sweet, quite balanced. Toffee, vanilla, dried fruits, oak and mild bourbon. Not that high alcohol in the flavor.
[Bottle from a trade with inbreak]

Bottle shared by Sabine, cheers! BBA barley wine with very loosely structured, coarse head consisting of irregular yellowish light beige bubbles, quickly dissolving to practically nothing; deep, warm mahogany brown colour with wine red hue and yellowish light brown edges. Strong, perfumey bouquet of old madera, sweet sherry and white port, next to candied cherry, chestnut, old furniture, vanilla tannins, ripe banana, caramelized sugar, honey and, of course, sweet bourbon. Intense candied cherry-, fig, white raisin, banana and ’praline’-like sweetness in onset balanced by a soft basic sourishness, some umami accents here and there; thick and vinous, oily body with expectedly very soft (to almost flat) carbo, but in this case not really impairing drinkability. Middle phase is thick honeyish and caramelly sweetness with a bittering toasted edge in the end, cleverly enhanced by the drying, oaky vanilla tannin-rich woodiness and a long lasting, but never astringent, liqueurish alcohol warmth. English style barley wine on a high level, I can imagine this perhaps being overly sweet to some, but the drying bourbon barrel wood makes for sufficient balance, at least to my personal taste. Very enjoyable and rich, slow winter sipper.

Pint Oak Aged Beer Festival 2015 @ Stadsbrouwerij De Pelgrim, Rotterdam. C-h-i-p-o-l-a-t-a H-o-l-o-c-a-u-s-t. Backlog from 2015/03/15.

Old rating rerated 09.07.2015, old & new batch @ home:
Old - 0,18l bottle (219/1722):
Tiny bubbly shortlasting head. Aroma is mild and balanced, dark sugar, burnt caramel, oak, grass, dark malts, raisins, nuts, minerals, coffee, toffee, hints og old hops and citrus peel. Taste is slightly sweet and well balanced, dark sugar, grass, raisins, oak, toffee, minerals, burnt caramel, nuts, dark malts, old hops, citrus peel, hints of butterscotch. Medium bitterness, slightly syrupy mouthfeel. Very nice, but it may have been just a little bit better @ Kulminator before Toer de Geuze 2 years ago...

New - 0,33l bottle:
7-4-8-4-15=3,8
Small slightly bubbly mediumlasting head. Aroma is slightly rich and dry, oak, bourbon, burnt caramel, dark malts, grass, minerals, coffee, dried dark fruits, hops, dark sugar, hints of citrus peel. Taste is slightly rich, oak, dried dark fruits, bourbon, grass, burnt caramel, dark malts, hops, minerals, toffee, citrus peel, dark sugar, coffee. Medium to longlasting bitterness, slightly dry and syrupy mouthfeel. Nice, but it feels a little too fresh and unbalanced. The old batch is (and was even several years ago) a lot better. So I guess I’ll age the rest of the bottles for at least a few years ’till next time...

Bottle at oak aged festival. Reddish brown with barely any head. Very sweet malts, whisky, red fruits, stone fruits, vanilla, creamy pudding. Very sweet and full bodied, very nice barley wine.