Wow, this is some really interesting stuff - pours a dark amber with foamy off-white head - somewhat musty and tart aroma at first, but that makes way for cocoa, cherries, oak, cinnamon, raisins - the flavor reminds me a bit of Fantome Chocolat, but I think I like this more - orange peel, cherry, port/vinous qualities, cinnamon, nutmeg - chocolate comes in underneath all of these, and finally becomes dominant (but not overpowering) in the finish, along with just the right amount of warming alcohol - I must have more of this.

One and only batch 1 750mL bottle sampled on 11/6/05 with the Montreal crew. Pours a dark brassy-copper with some deep strawberry-auburn hues and some darker browns swirling about in the middle. Fair amount of haziness and only a small, off-white head with low to moderate retention and some spotty lacing. Aroma is a real sniffer. Strong, rich dates, raisins, even milk chocolate, hints of creamy oatmeal with brown sugar and bananas in it and a strong dried cherry fruitiness. I like Goldorak’s suggestion of a MaiTai, there is definitely a cocktail sort of feel to it. But yet, it dosent get too one-sided in any note, nor is it too sweet. Aroma is long-lasting. The yeast is clean and works with the other notes without really asserting itself. I think, strictly as a dubbel, I wouldnt give this as high an aroma score, but I see no reason to hold this strictly to a traditional dubbel style.
The flavor starts out with a light bit of toffee and milk chocolate, with dry raisins, a hint of cinnamon and a touch of dry vanilla on the end. After a few more sips, alcohol rears its ugly head on the finish. Lightly dry, fruity citrus notes, a touch of chewy caramel and some candied prunes. A touch of grainy malts as well. Unfortunately, the texture has not seemed to hold up well even only after a year. Very loose, thinned out and watery on the end. Low carbonation and I can see where fresh, it probably had a tight mouthfeel, but not at this point. Another surprise is the relative lack of sweetness in the flavor. After taking in the aroma, I was preparing myself for a very sweet, malty, chocolatey/caramelly beer, but that it is not. Not too dry, however, it is well-balanced in that regard. High alcohol apparency knocks it down in flavor, though. If I hadnt had the same experience (high alcohol apparency in the flavor) with the Luciernaga, I might have been more apt to cut it some slack, but I have little patience for alcohol apparency, especially in beers in the 6-8% range. And one more complaint, while I’m at it, I really wish JP would cork their beers.
Rerate Had another bottle on 3/4/06. This one I poured out. Ron needs to seriously figure out where he’s going with these beers, because this lactobacillus and other wild yeast infection is attenuating the beer 100% and making it dry, rough, sharp and no fun to drink. Wood tannins and alcohol apparency only exacerbate the problem. This one used to have the maltiness, but it’s gone. And believe me, I need very little sweetness to keep me happy (none actually, see Cantillon), but when the texture suffers, and the wood and alcohol kicks in, then something needs to balance. 7/4/4/2/9

Had a newer batch on 1/18/07 and another one a month following that and I was blown away. Both bottles were easy mid-to-high 4’s for me. A wonderful barrel-aged wild ale that was so unique in its extremely bright, lively fruitiness. Tart cherry notes, lime, grapefruit, apples and strawberries, with a well-attenuated dryness, but nothing like the previous bottle that was obnoxiously over-attenuated from the lacto. Nearly perfect, and though I won’t assign the score completely based on these samples, I’ll greatly increase the score and chalk up the near-drainpour bottles to a poor aging candidate. I’ve got one more bottle that has been aged for a while now, so I’ll see i’ll be able to further test if that is the case.