8.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

33cl fles van Drinks&Gifts. Zwart, beige kraag. Aroma van fondant, brownie, wat drop en mokka. Smaak van chocolade, fondant, drop, wat koffie, hint van whisky. Volle body. Heerlijk glad. Doet een beetje denken aan Hel & Verdoemenis. Topspul.

9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 10 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Kromme Haring’s Beluga imperial stout aged on Glen Moray whisky barrels, bottle from Gedeelde Vreugde. Initially dense, thick and creamy, mocha-brownish beige head, stable but opening and dissipating gradually over a black beer with thin, hazy mahogany edges. Intense bouquet of ‘fondant’ chocolate, toffee, single malt whisky (very clear but well-embedded into the whole), vanilla-scenting oak wood, mocha ice cream, plum candy, dried figs, muscovado sugar, almond, cappuccino, Belgian chocolates, hint Cuban cigars. Sweet onset, fig syrup and raisin notes, finely tingling softish carbonation, very full and oily, creamy mouthfeel, thick layers of very chocolatey and very toffeeish maltiness with aspects of hazelnut purée and toasted chestnuts, bittersweet but more bitter than sweet with only mildly coffeeish roasty bitterness in the end, where it is heated by obviously very (non-peaty) whisky-like alcohol – but before going into overdrive booziness, the whisky is largely absorbed by this thick ‘bed’ of bittersweet maltiness; vanilla-like oak rises up retronasally, while a peppery hop accent provides late but well-balancing bitterness and spiciness, even if the sweet toffeeish maltiness remains predominant. Everything works extremely well together here – this Kromme Haring brewery clearly belongs to the top in the Netherlands; this is truly a masterpiece in the genre of whisky barrel aged imperial stouts, reminiscent of the heyday of Emelisse’s White Label series when Kees Bubberman was still in charge. Very impressive and among the best Dutch stouts I ever had, so deserving of a very high score as far as I am concerned. Amazing beer!

8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Pours a black colour and a light brown head with a thin layer retention. Aroma's: drop/licorice, sweet, umami, roast. Retronasal there's roasted malts, drop, molasses, light booze, light barrel. Flavour is moderate sweet, a bit salty/umami, roasted malts, light bitter. Medium bodied. Low carbonation. Long finish, light ashy, moderate bitter. I know these guys love their mixed fermentation things, but they do an excellent job here too.

7.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle. Black pour. Aroma of smoke, licorice, chocolate, molasses, whisky, burned caramel and coffee. Taste has soft licorice, smoke, whisky booze, chocolate, molasses, caramel, some red fruit, chocolate malt and a boozy finish. Nice smooth boozy stuff.

6.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Imported from my RateBeer account as De Kromme Haring Beluga Barrel Aged Glen Moray (by De Kromme Haring):
Aroma: 6/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 15/20, MyTotalScore: 3.5/5

24/VI/19 - 33cl bottle @ home, BB: II/2021 - (2019-885) Thanks to Erwin for sharing the bottle!
Clear dark brown to black beer, small creamy beige head, little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: some ripe banana, bit of breakwater, saline, mineral. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: bit sweet, alcohol, roasted, bitter, lots of alcohol, bitter, coffee, dry. Aftertaste: hoppy, dry, very roasted, dark chocolate.

8

Lekker tijdstip voor een eerste bier. Het was weer een eer om het bevrijdingsvuur naar Utrecht te brengen.