Bottle from Ales by Mail. Burnt orange pour with a beige head. Fruit laden aromas of tangerine, apricot jam and peach. Boozy flavours of citrus, toffee, red apple and a splash of bitter fruit. Sweet/dry mouthfeel. Tasty stuff.

330ml bottle. Hazy, copper-ish brown colour with huge, frothy, osteoporosing, minimally lacing, beige head. Caramel malty aroma with toffee notes, fruity hoppy overtones with notes of mandarine, orange, gooseberry, mirabelle. Taste is moderately sweet malty, hints of caramel, toffee, a bitter coffee touch, some dried fruit, raisin; bitter, minimally papery finish.

340 ml bottle. Pours a yellow brown with lots of suspended sediment and light head. Aromas of caramel, rubber, and malt extract. Flavors are similar with emphasis on chewy sweet malts.

Tap at Kaapse Brouwers. Reddish brown with medium sized cream colored head. Yeasty and spicy, with Apple, berries, vegetal bitter finish. Light sweet but nothing too much. Medium bodied. Nice.

On tap at Cascade, pours an opaque dark orangey amber with a medium beige head. Aroma of sweet caramel malts, candied fruits, and a pronounced hop edge. Flavour is not balanced or cohesive at all, with cloying caramel and dark fruit sweetness, with jagged hops that attempt to balance. Not good at all.

0.33l bottle from Brewdog Camden, enjoyed at our hotel room. Lots and lots of head on this one. Not disturbing, but much. It pours a blurry deep amber almost bronze colored body and the color of the big head is mild beige. Smells nice and malty. Lots of malty goodness here, and a little bit of both caramel, spices, grass, alcohol and red fruits. Not bad at all. Lots of flavor! Was expecting the alcohol to be much more up front than this, cause it's surprisingly well hidden. Loaded with biscuit sweetness and something light burned. It has strong oily mouthfeel and the carbonation is just about average. Soft warming aftertaste. Lots of malty sweetness as well. Wouldn't mind having this more available. 09.11.2013

Review based on the BJCP2008 guidelines (style 19B adapted). Bottle 33 cl - Batch unknown - Bottled on 30-OCT-2012. AROMA: very rich and sweet malt aroma with dried fruits and caramel notes. smooth vinous and port like alcohol notes. low hop aromas and no diacetyl. some cardboard aroma is present. APPEARANCE: deep Brown color and almost opaque. good moussy light brown head with good retention. some viscosity derived from alcohol without pronunced "legging" TASTE: very nice range of sweet malt flavours (toasted, caramel, toffe) and some dried fruits (dried figs). balanced bitterness lingering into a medium-dry finish. very low hop flavours. faint presence of alcohol flavours. PALATE: medium smooth body with medium-low carbonation. faint alcohol warmth. OVERALL: a good strong and barleywine-like ale with good aromas and a plethora of malt flavours.

Bottle from Dranken Geers. Dark amber colour, white foam. Complex aroma of exotic fruits, bitter hops, caramel and honey. Very well balanced: sweet with bitter finish. Very good!