7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

500 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 2/19/2018. Pours ropy fairly hazy deep reddish orange color, with a small fairly dense cream colored head with good retention, that reduces to a thin lace cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of lightly tart cherry, plum, berries, peach, pear, red apple, red grape, nutty coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, and brown bread; with light notes of pepper, chocolate, cocoa, herbal, grass, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. A bit too fruity, funky, yeasty, infected feeling aromas; but not overwhelming. Nice aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity yeast, coffee, dark/bready malt, and light-moderate bourbon barrel notes; with good strength. Taste of slightly tart cherry, plum, berries, peach, pear, red apple, red grape, nutty coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, and brown bread; with light notes of pepper, chocolate, cocoa, herbal, grass, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Very mild herbal/roasted coffee bitterness; and yeast/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of cherry, plum, berries, peach, pear, red apple, red grape, nutty coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, brown bread, chocolate, cocoa, herbal, grass, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of ruity yeast, coffee, dark/bready malt, and light-moderate bourbon barrel flavors; with a solid malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and no cloying flavors after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness and yeast/oak spiciness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready, and slightly sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is nice. Minimal warming alcohol for 7.5%. Overall this is a very good barrel aged Belgian dark ale. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity yeast, coffee, dark/bready malt, and light-moderate bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the minimally bitter/spicy/drying finish. Other than the weird infection feeling nose, taste was fine. Well balanced Belgian yeast, fruity/nutty coffee, and malts; with solid Bourbon barrel presence. A very enjoyable offering, and nice style example otherwise. Might have some cross contamination from their sours.