Grande Réserve Fermentée en Barriques - Chêne Français, Chêne Américain, Whisky (08/2018)
(Batch of Grande Réserve Fermentée en Barriques - Chêne Français, Chêne Américain, Whisky (2018))
Bières de Chimay (Abbaye de Scourmont) in Baileux, Hainaut, Belgium 🇧🇪
Belgian Style - Quadrupel / Dark Strong Special Out of Production|
Score
7.88
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To the eye, an intense brown beer, with bright glints and creamy foam.
On the nose, woody notes and delicate hints of pears as well as plums.
On the palate, the barrel-ageing provides bread crust, roasting and smoky aromas, enhanced by a touch of honey and vanilla.
34% french oak
41% american oak
25% Whisky
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Draught at Gordon Ramsey's Caesar's Palace NJ, 8/19/21.
Mahogany with cola tints and a good clarity. Beige head atop is small, but shows decent retention, eventually fading to a ring.
Hints of caramel and milk chocolate dot a raisin and prune-heavy nose that is slowly and gently dried out via light whiskey spice/warmth. Clean and, perhaps, a bit too intensely-malty, but without any noxious alcohol heat.
Raisins galore with fig/prune/plum and all manner of dark fruits. Caramel and brown sugar sweeten things further but soft tannin helps dry as well as a very light alcohol warmth. Not particularly overt on the actual whiskey character, which is fine with me. Some more dryness may help, but it's dessert-like and somewhat decadent for sure. Clean and well-structured.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Excellent evening sipper Dark pour with a fine creamy head. Pleasant and fine aroma. No sticky alcohol Mellow fine carbonation level and a fine balanced sweetness Dark malt, vanilla, oak, some whiskey and mild fruity flavor [Bottle from Systembolaget in Sarpsborg, Norway]
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9.5 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9.5
Fles 37,5cl thuis. 8/2018. Zacht, eik, whisky, licht vanille, caramel, pruim, licht vineus, licht boozy, kandij, vijg, donker fruit, mooi zoet. (11-4-2021).
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
375 ml bottle. Thx VastActiv! Bottled 08/19. 10.5%. Poured dark brown in color. Almonds, dark fruits, sweetness. Hint of barrel. Full bodied, sweet. Excellent.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle 0.375l at Ardes residence, Helsinki. Color is almost clear brown with small white head. Ripe fruits, some plum, vanilla, malts... Nice!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
750ml corked and caged bottle.
It pours a dark brown with reddish highlights, ample, no, more than ample head of off white foam.
Dark fruits and whiskey dominate the smell. Malty with some oxidation, figs, nice complex aromas.
Malty, some oxidation, whiskey taste. Dark pitted fruit, very light hint of port, which will probably grow as the vintage ages more.
Fullish body, lively carbonation.
Very good but not worth $40.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle. Pours an amber color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty caramel woody aroma with hints of dark fruit. Fruity malty woody caramel flavor. Has a fruity sweetish malty woody caramel spicy finish.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle shared by Jack, thanks! Pours a clear amber with a slight brown hue and a tan head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has sweet grains, caramel, belgian yeast and a bit of whiskey barrel backing. Flavor has sweet grains and bread supported by Belgian yeast, Belgian candied sugar and a hint of whiskey.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
12.5 oz corked and caged. Aroma is toffee, apple, marshmallow, woody, banana, light whiskey. Pours dark brown with red highlights and sediment under a one finger cap of beige foam with good retention. Taste is highly sweet and a bit savory, caramelly, with apple-y fruity esters. A nice sipper.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9.5
I’ve held onto this 375 ml bottle since February after getting it at Total Wine in Santa Fe. On a per ounce basis, this has to be the most expensive single purchase I have made in my almost four years doing RateBeer, just saying. But nobody made me make the buy, I am a fan of Chimay Blue and this is an extension of that. Tonight I have Mindi Abair providing the chill jazz and my Chimay glass doing the honors for my 750th rating, all apropos. High expectations since I believe barrel aging almost always improves a brew over the original version. The pour provides a clear, cola-brown body with a steadily recharged, parchment colored head. I get the scent of figs, raisins and whole grain bread. Finally I have a taste, dates, figs, dark cherry, some caramel and cane syrup. I detect a minimal amount of barrel effect, would not have minded more. A chewy sensation, thick, I like that. An improvement over the base Chimay? Perhaps. But not enough to offset the cost. Time to sit back, drink the rest of the bottle and enjoy the ride.