7.8

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

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 5/11/2018. Pours slightly hazy deep orange/amber/light copper color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy off white head with decent retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Minimal spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of lemon, peach, pear, apricot, golden raisin, red apple, white grape, poppy seed, citrus zest, herbal, honey, bourbon, toasted oak, and white bread; with lighter notes of coconut, toffee, brown sugar, oaken vanilla, pepper, and yeast/oak earthiness. A touch of booze as it warms, but not overwhelming. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of pale malt, bourbon barrel; and light-moderate lemon, poppy seed, fruity yeast notes; with solid strength. Taste of big lemon, peach, pear, apricot, golden raisin, red apple, white grape, poppy seed, citrus zest, herbal, honey, bourbon, toasted oak, and white bread; with lighter notes of coconut, toffee, brown sugar, oaken vanilla, pepper, and yeast/oak earthiness. Very mild herbal bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of lemon, peach, pear, apricot, golden raisin, red apple, white grape, poppy seed, citrus zest, herbal, honey, bourbon, toasted oak, white bread, light coconut/toffee/vanilla, pepper, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of pale malt, bourbon barrel; and light-moderate lemon, poppy seed, fruity yeast flavors; with a great malt/bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with no cloying flavors lingering after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from bitter/spiciness and bourbon/oak tannins. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a smooth, creamy/silky/grainy, and lightly slick/sticky/tannic mouthfeel that is nice. Lightly increasing warmth of 11.6%, with minimal barrel booze lingering after the finish. Overall this is a very nice fruited/spiced imperial blonde ale. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of pale malt, bourbon barrel; and light-moderate lemon, poppy seed, fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV; with the minimally bitter/spicy/tannic finish. This is basically a blonde barleywine as expected. Rich pale malts with great barrel integration/balance; and not overdone on the lemon/poppy seed flavors. A very enjoyable offering. Really unique and well made, but not something I'd revisit.