Sampled at Billie's Craft Beer Festival 2017, Antwerp. Pitch black pour with a fine-grained tan head. Notes of chocolate, cocoa, chili peppers, smooth whiskey, oak. Full body, thick and smooth texture, medium to low carbonation and a sweet finish. Very well balanced and full of flavour.

Perennial's most highly acclaimed product, a rye whisky barrel aged edition of the classic Abraxas - finally able to taste this quite famous beer at BCBF (and I was not the only one interested, considering the long queue of beer geeks lining up when this one was opened...). Thin, moussy, deep brownish-tinged bead head, opening middle but stable in the form of a ring, over a black beer with deep bronze-ish brown edges. Overwhelming, incredibly rich bouquet of Christmas cake, gingerbread including a lot of soft spicy cinnamon, hot chocolate sauce and chocolate liqueur, nutmeg, vanilla-ish bourbon and oak, fudge, brownies, rum, liquorice, fresh cloves, juniper leaves, 'kruidenkoeken' en 'pepernoten' galore. Sweet onset, brown sugariness thickly coating hints of dates and raisins, noble and very concentrated, soft carbo, very thick and greasy mouthfeel. Profoundly deep 'chocolateness' and toffeeish malt goodness ensues, deeply and elegantly nutty, like a mixture of liquid chocolate bars and liquid gingerbread. This huge and decadently delicious pile of malts is brightened by soft woody tannins, vanilla-ish oak and bourbon colours, all on top of the familiar sweet and almost 'Christmassy' ethereal cinnamon and vanilla bean flavours. The chili heat, like in the regular version, accentuates a warming, obviously very bourbon-like alcohol effect without becoming too obtrusive. This is a majestic, caleidoscopic, awe-inspiring masterpiece of a stout - I had already fallen in love with the regular one, but this one is even better, and exceeds my highest expectations. One of the very best stouts I ever had the honour to taste, regardless of hype; I do not see how any stout can get any better than this so after a moment of doubt and comparing it with other top class stouts I had so far, I have no other choice but to give this perfect beauty a near perfect score...

BIG THANKS to Alengrin. 750 ml. bottle sampled @ Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2017. Black oily syrup. Nose is amazing cinnamon is upfront but all massive bourbon chocolate pralines syrup candy to the max. Taste is melted pralines chocolate cinnamon warming candy, chocolate, bourbon pralines, vanilla, bourbon sugar, vanilla,… Pure praline beer, damn this is phenomenal. Holly molly.

Bottle received in trade. 2017 vintage. Pitch black pour with a mocha head. Intense coffee, chocolate, coconut, cinnamon & bourbon nose. Nice coffee & chocolate balance. Sweet, bitter, malty, roasty & nutty taste. Soft, round, velvety & tiny astringent mouth. Wow! Very impressive! Especially when comparing to the base. The barrel really did wonders.

Intense coffee, chocolate, coconut, cinnamon & bourbon nose. Nice coffee & chocolate balance. Sweet, bitter, malty, roasty & nutty taste.

Dark black sml brn head. Toffee coffee vanil flav. Sweet toffee coffee vanil flav. Full bod low carb. 9/5/9/4/17 4.4

0,05l from bottle at mbcc green session shared by the crew, big thanks for this one. black color, dark coffee colored head. smells strong of cinnamon, hazelnuts, marzipan, some chocolate. very nice smell. full body, no carbonation, slick mouthfeel. tastes strong of cinnamon, cocoa, marzipan, hazelnuts, some molasses. finishes lightly sweet with notes of cinnamon, cocoa and some hazelnuts. very very nice one, very tense and amazing flavors but still very drinkable. 9, 4, 9, 5, 18

750 ml bottle tasted next to regular and coffee version. Thanks Glen!! Black color with brown head that disappears quickly. Malty aroma, roasted, light spicy, chocolate, cinnamon, cocoa, vanilla, wood, alcohol, whiskey, some dark fruits. Sweet and bitter taste like aroma. Full silky oily to creamy body with soft carbonation.

Tap at Snallyghaster 2016 showing pitch black with quickly dissipating latte colored foam. The nose shows notes of vanilla and molasses. Upon warming up, a clear coconut profile comes out. The palate is full bodied and syrup slick showing barely any carbonation. Vanilla and clean coconut notes ring throughout the beer with the attack beginning with a mix of light chocolate, cinnamon, and tobacco. A very strong cinnamon spiciness begins on the front end. The mid palate shows intense coconut with a finish on light tobacco and burnt notes. Not bad at all, but I fully prefer the non-barrel aged version.