Pours dark brown with a small, fading head.Nose shows stale malt, cardboard, golden syrup, port notes and bready malt.Similar problems with the flavours, more stale and grainy malt. Over-the-top oxidised notes. Not many other flavours to distract from these flaws.Too much carbonation threatens to overwhelm any redeeming flavours.

Purchased from Half Time Beverage.

It’s a gorgeous looking brew; deep golden brown with a 1 finger head of white foam and very impressive lacing.

I also love the smell; loads of dark pitted fruit, a bit of bread, some sweet malt, absolutely nothing bitter in the aroma at all. Well, the style doesn’t call for bitterness..

Plums and raisins hit me on my first sip and then, a lot of alcohol. Some caramel sweet working its way in, more fruit and more bread and yes, more alcohol.

This is going to sound weird but sometimes there seems to be a blank area where I can’t really taste anything. They are very brief but I’m sure they are there after sensing them more than a few times. Here, I find the aromas of the beer were not lived up to compared to the taste..

The body of this Old Ale is pretty darned light; a major disappointment I have with Old Tom. I’m sure? the cask version, if there is one, would take care of that.

All in all, there are positives than negatives to my way of thinking so I’m glad I bought 4, drank 1, and am saving the other 3 bottles for another time.

Pours mahogany into a snifter. Mocha head quickly recedes to sicken surface. Sweet roasted chocolate aromas. Thin with sweet molasses, pit fruit and toffee front to back. Lasting bitter honey finish.

Dark brown, clear. White head. Oily, almost greasy. Aroma of licorice and tea, also a faint of chocolate. Sweet.

Bottle from Asda
Dark caramel..clear..tan frothy head that dissipates to rim around glass
Aroma - rich dark caramel malts...dark fruits...raisins...hint of port..vinous..some spicy hops
Taste - rich dark quite sweet malts...dark fruits...raisins...spices...bit of liquorice...slight hint of chocolate...hint of sherry..vinous...background of bitter hops...quite complex...the alcohol is quite noticeable
Palate - soft to medium carb...mouth coating sweet malts...medium to full body....quite viscous texture...smooth. Finish - warming alcohol...sweet fruity dark malts...bit more bitterness in the tail
Overall - This is a smooth dark malty spicy vinous ale...perhaps a little less complex than similar ales at the abv...I’d love to try this cask!

Bottle. Dark amber with a thin head. Aroma of light bitter coco. Flavour has strong bitter chocolate with a warming alco feel. Palate is almost spicy

A reddish, dark brown beer with a medium and beige head. Intensive and sweet aroma, raisins, some toffee and strawberries, also belgian yeast; overally, aroma is pleasant and sweet. Taste is dryer than aroma, medium sweet, toffee, raisins, nice roastiness with wooden hoppyness dries the taste, also some herbs. Surprisingly, only medium bodied, slippery and easy. Great aroma promises sweet and dessert like beer, thus Old Tom without high sweetness was almost a disappointment even I don’t like too sweetness. Strong brittish ale where alcohol is nicely hidden, good and succesfull beer.

330 ml bottle bought @ Systembolaget and consumed on December 22. Pours dark chocolate brown with a big rather fizzy off-white head that dissipates while… Smell is malty sweet with dried sweet fruits, some alcohol, vanilla and molasses. Taste is sweet with dried fruits, liquorice root, hints of white pepper, burnt sugar and orange zest, Finish is slightly sweet, slightly bitter and slightly metallic.

33cl bottle from Alko. BBE 04.2013. Poured dark amber with a frothy head. Aroma of marzipan, caramel and dark fruits. Flavour mostly dark fruits, toffee and toasted malt, maybe hint of alcohol towards finish, warming. Complex, very tasty beer.

33cl bottle. Rubi colour with good and easy formation of off-white head. Aroma is sweet and black chocolate. Malty chocolate and coffee flavour with a final of medium duration and dry. Carbonation is medium. Body is medium.