Bottle from Dranken Geers, Oostakker. Vintage 2013. Pours hazy black with a lasting, small, foamy, dark beige head. Complex aroma of bourbon, apple peel (vague acetaldehyde but clearly eroded over the years), vanilla, wood, prune, raisin, liqueur-filled chocolate, candied dates, sweet tobacco, faint coffee. Taste is medium malty sweet, very fruity, prune, raisin & dates on a subtle chocolatey & caramelly base, treacle- & dark honey-like accents, sourish brambleberry underneath, bitter notes of wood, toast, coffee, alcohol already warming up the mouth. Dryish, malty, slightly peppery hoppy finish, lingering dried dark fruits, vanilla, and a heating dash of bourbon-like alcohol but in a satisfactory way. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. Definitely a world-class brew and perhaps an epitome of Belgian beer culture... But I still prefer the regular Black Albert.

Black tan head - nose/taste of bourbon, charred oak, chocolate, dark fruit, charred black licorice. 4.3

Moved rating (previous ratings seem to have been merged into the 2012 vintage..)