Bottle
Dark, reddish brown with disappearing head. Cinnamon, cardamom and liquorice aroma, maybe some chocolate as well. Many spices in the flavour, a bit too many. The taste of alcohol shows up in the finish. Never been a fan of spice beers, still isn’t.

Draught tulip at Sunset Grill on 11/17/07
Deep chartreuse-tinted mahogany with some light tan notes on the edges. Clear, with a fleeting chestnut head that leaves little/no lacing.
Ginger and dry nutmeg are strong in the nose, with wisps of chocolate malt nuances on the edges and powdery cocoa mixing with ginger again on the finish. Excessively clean smelling, with little in the way of wholesome or rich malts. Just some passing sugariness and mostly an array of spicing. Not particularly hoppy, and no real yeast suggestions break through (no fruitiness). Definite alcohol sharpness emerges with breathing, on the finish. No flaws, medium strength of aroma.
After two relatively successful Left Hand beers before this one (the smoked goose and the warrior), I was really hoping this would prove to have the same softness of palate (relatively speaking) as those. It certainly did not. Extremely hard, crystal malt-like structure shows hard candy-like sugariness, with too much reliance on spicing to add flavor. Way too much ginger, creating too much astringency and meatiness. Powdery cocoa notes followed by soda water-like flavors on the bland finish from the loose carbonation. Alcohol warmth further dries things out. Like a really, really poorly done Anchor OSA clone with too much alcohol. Difficult to finish.

22oz bottle-pours a dissipating foamy tan head that laces and deep red/mahogany color. Aroma is dark malt, nutmeg/honey/cocoa powder, ginger/earthy, dark fruit-cherry. Taste is spices, dark malt, nutmeg/honey/cocoa powder, ginger/earthy, dark fruit-cherry, dry/granular/slight alcohol finish. Medium body. OK effervescence.

(Bottle 65 cl) Courtesy of joergen. Clear, dark, amber golden with a creamy, off-white head. Sweetish, spicy nose of cardamom and dried fruits with some alcohol presence. Quite full-bodied with sweetish caramel and a distinct spiciness - Speculaas-style. The finish is dry. 191207

Dark amber beer, with pretty much no head on it - strong, spicy and floral aroma, smelling not unlike a christmas candle, with notes of clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg - the beer has a clean honey sweetness to it, and the spices are quite apparent, especially the ginger - nutmeg and cinnamon lend a drying character, but the beer remains fairly sweet - cloves become quite apparent late, becoming almost overpowering, along with some notes of allspice - some brown sugar and molasses also manifest in the finish - it truly does taste a lot like a christmas pastry - not bad, just a little cloying.

Deep cola coloured brown body with a thinnish tan head. Aroma of raisins, nuts, roasted malt and a very light spiceyness. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong spicey flavours in the taste, coupled with a good dose of malts and that nuttiness that doesn’t stop. Aftertaste shows more of the spices, a lot of alcohol and some good malt backbones. Overall, a decent beer - a bit strong for the season, and a lot of nuts...but not bad at all. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Norm’s in Vienna, Virginia on 30 November 2007.

A quality beer with a flavor that doesn’t suit me. I can still recognize the quality however. The aroma has ginger and nutmet. Some sugar in the flavor, cloves, more nutmeg and ginger. The spices are strong and prominent, but when combined with the sugar, the beer is a bit cloying.

Bottle. Pours a dark amber color with a longlasting off-white head. Roasted spicy ginger aroma. Malty spicy flavor with some hints of citrus. Long spicy malty finish.

Pour is a amber with a small white head. Aroma is very nice. A good mix of orange, cinnamon and nutmeg. Flavor is not so much. First the liquid is very thick and cloying. Some orange peel is showing but everything else seems muted as the brrewer just wanted the spice to come out but nothing else.

On tap at Capital Ale House - Downtown. Clear deep ruby body with a small creamy tan head. Sweet molassas aroma with a light spicy foreground. Sweet molassas and caramel flavor with a lot of spice. Dominated by nutmeg and some light coriander