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

1 March 2020. At Dok Brewing Company, with the lovely Anke. Hazy black, very thin, frothy, tan head. Aroma of plum, blackberry, cognac, wood, old chocolate, whisky, vanilla. Taste has sweetish chocolate, fig, nuts with sourish bramble- & blackberry underneath; woody middle, slightly funky even, along with powdery toast & coffee. Dry, earthy hoppy finish, more wood, dried fruit, warming cognac & whisky alcohol. Medium to full body, oily texture, fizzy carbonation. Barrel treatment works well here.

Botella de @2D2Dspuma, Barcelona (Online) 09/04/2020 Color negro opaco corona de espuma beige, aromas tostados, madera, notas vinosas, sabor tostados, madera, licorosa, cuerpo sedoso rica.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle. Black. Grapes and soft roast in the vinous aroma. Malty sweet flavor with roast, licorice, raisin. Vinous with oak and cognac. Nice and warming, but hard to taste the whisky.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Botella 37.5 CL de Cimmeria tomada en Valladolid 10..03..2020. Color negro intenso con espuma beige oscuro que desaparece al poco tiempo casi por completo. Sabores intensos maltosos tostados con buena dosis de licores avinados viejos y maderas empapadas con suaves toques muy ligeros ahumados y de licor tipo whisky. Cuerpo intenso con bastante sabor y con no mucha densidad que hace que se beba bastante fácilmente. Bastante buena y original combinación de alejados en barriles tan distintos. Bastante buena para repetir sin duda.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Imperial porter aged on both whisky and cognac barrels, a rather ‘typical’ Calavera product I would say, bottled in 37.5 cl ‘geuze’ bottles with cork. Light gusher, but manageable if opened very slowly and with a lot of patience… Medium thick, mousy, pale yellowish beige, dissipating head (eventually gone completely), black robe with cloudy chestnut brown edges. Aroma of ‘fondant’ chocolate bars, tawny port, old decaying acorn shells on a forest floor, dry tree leaves, chestnuts, brown bread, prunes, wet oak wood, dust, full-bodied red wine, coffee cream, hints of passionfruit, toffee, straw, pipe tobacco, date wine. Fruity, estery onset, sweet core with sourish edge, hinting at figs, blackberries and blueberries with a dash of blue grape, medium carbonated; rounded, oily, smooth and full body. Lovely toffeeish and walnutty maltiness with a thick bitter-chocolatey edge, adorned with ongoing estery fruitiness and growing tannic woodiness, becoming increasingly dry in the finish with a lot of dusty old oak wooden barrel, light grapey tartness, bready yeastiness and a mildly spicy and earthy hop bitterness. A glow of warming alcohol ensues, relatively gently so and certainly a lot more port- or even wine-like than either whisky- or cognac-like, strangely; considering the fact that outspoken whisky and cognac impressions are as good as absent here, it seems as if the barrels that were used, have been used multiple times before and did not really contain any liquor anymore. If I had tasted this blind, I’d say it was aged on port or even red wine barrels, especially considering the somewhat ‘wild’, softly tart edge this beer has. That said, this tart-grapey aspect, colourful though at all times subordinate to the beauty of the malts and the dryness of the wood, only adds a layer of complexity that I was not expecting – so that this whole beer is a true gem and somewhat underrated here. Best Calavera so far for me, though admittedly their quality level of stouts and porters is generally quite high.

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

Bottle. Color: Black, thin beige head. Aroma: Roasted malt, coffee, subtle sweetish Cognac notes. Taste: Roasted malt, black coffee, sweetish and slightly boozy, also bit fruity, notes of Cognac and Whiskey barrels. By far most La Calavera's I've had, had some sourness to strong sourness, so this is a surprising other side of La Calavera for me. Maybe a very slightly sourness in this one, but nothing more. Above moderate sweetness and bitterness. Bit sticky mouthfeel. Very well balanced in between the base beer and the barrel ageing. Over medium body, low carbonation. Very nice.