From the bottle, 10th anniversary edition, 2012. Pours foamless,a beautiful dark brown with nice reflections. Aroma is dark malt, licorice, fruits under spirits, dry fruits. Body is very dense, very sticky, intense burn. Taste is sweet, with strong caramel feeling. Some bitterness and quite some astringency. Finish is rather long and intense, lots of salivation induced.

Bottle bought through Systembolaget. Pours dark reddish brown with no head leaving some nice looking legs on the glass with a swirl. Smell is very sherry like with tons of raisins, prunes, leather and fresh rather yeasty oxidation (oxymoron time!) but also clear barley wine character with caramel, toffee, light herbal hops and of course a rather hefty alcohol burn. Taste is sweet, tiny bitter, malty, fruity and boozy. Mouthfeel is round, viscous, oily, flat, burning boozy and near full bodied. Finish is sweet and tiny bitter with caramel, toffee, raisins, prunes, minerals, yeast, leather, minerals and heavy sherry alcohol. I must confess I had no real expectations for this bad boy. But drinking this as an albeit extremely strong sherry this is quite delicious. I like!

(Sample of 2015 bottle @ VilleValla Pub, Linköping, April 5 2016) Pours clear red copper with no head, like a tawny port. Aroma is also tawny port, crossed with older sherry, super-sweet caramelized sugar, dried fruits, vinous, soft oak, oxidation, maybe a touch of buttery character from the wood, alcohol present. Flavour is quite sweet but again slightly drier than a port, more older sherry-like. Raisins and other pale dried fruits, burnt sugars, a bit nutty, lots of wood. Finish is a touch soft and drier, nutty, slightly buttery wood, persistent vinousness, soft bitterness, some alcohol. Smooth, oily, no carb. Very much on the fortified wine side of things, though without the same intensity of finish that the best of them have. Interesting nuances picked up from the barrels involved, rather unique in the beer world, but would rather buy a good tawny port given the price.

Bottle of the 2013 vintage that I’ve been slowly rationing, first release to be blended with a touch of KMF. Poured 1-2 ounces into a Utopias Riedel glass. Clear dark copper/amber brown, no head as expected. Aromas of whiskey, oak, Port, dark fruit, light smokiness. Tastes of oak, whiskey, dark fruit, light caramel, Port wine, a little smokiness. Medium-light body with a dry and warm finish. Alcohol heat seems to have faded nicely since having this bottle fresh. Nice complexity.

Sample from bottle, many thanks Oh6gdx! Deep brown, no head. Strong raisiny aroma, plums, alcohol warmth. Some vanilla and plum liqueur. Long finish, alcohol burn and warmth. Very nice to get to try this!

Sampled bottle @ Struise Beerstroe in Bruges. This one is truly a legendary beer, I have read about and heard about this beer for about 6 years and I found out about its existence about one year in or so since I have started tasting beers. Needless to say that my excitement was at maximum level prior to me sampling this one. Overall, I am happy that I tried but I disagree with the common deScriptions that this beer truly tastes like no other beverage in the world. The profile on this one is that of oxidized beer, massively so coated in alcohol, it is strong, warming (but definitely not overly boozy) but the taste is really in line with what one would expect from a strong beer that contains components that have been aged for more than 20 years. Massive walnut, oxidation, chestnuts, low cardboard even, if you have had 10+ year old strong beers you are familiar with this profile. In that sense even with the high ABV, I wouldn’t deem this one as a unique experience. It is a good, this one had plenty of vanilla from the oak, toffee etc. to work but it isn’t something that I would deep being worth the price-tag looking only at the result (not the production efforts). Anyway it poured a very deep red copper. Needless to say zero sign of carbonation. Nose is massive oxidation, leaves, walnuts, big sherry in there with lots of sugar, almost bourbon oak notes, oak vanilla, some juniper berries, nettles, low cardboard coated in warming alcohol, clear alcohol in the nose but it is good quality, not overly boozy, pleasant, warming. Taste is big oxidation, big sherry, walnut, herbal nettles, thick licorice, strong alcohol presence but not overly boozy, coats the throat, low cardboard, big oak vanilla, lots of sherry, light touch of bourbon ,… Flat, thick, warming, coats the throat, dash cough syrup. Interesting & nice, plenty of toffee, oak, vanilla etc. to balance out the oxidation, some unexpected notes, herbal nettles, low licorice, warming, alcohol makes it work, big sweetness, good oxidation. Nice to try but at this price point, not something that I will ever purchase again. I would call this very clearly a beer given how familiar the oxidation & BA notes are.