2004 bottle purchased at Julio’s, which is apparently the only place that still carries (or ever carried!) this beer - the rubber (wax my ass) seal nearly broke my damn bottle opener, even after I removed a lot of it with a knife - completely still, dark amber pour - musty, cellared aroma, with notes of fig, brown sugar, flaked oats, toffee (actually not too bad a start) - very sweet up front, with a relatively light body - toffee and raisins, followed by a boozy, alcohol burn - some roasted malt and, I swear, wet cardboard - artificial, almost chlorinated qualities (like drinking pool water) - the otherwise pleasant qualities of the beer are all subordinated to this HUGE flaw - finish has slight roastiness and artificial sweetener sweetness - kind of a lame-ass beer.

On cask at NEBF, 10/29/05. Very nice pour to this, a fluffy beige-tan head atop a mahogany-auburn-orange body. While it hasnt exactly dropped bright, it’s not terribly murky. Head is not well-retained with little to no lacing. Aroma of sweet cherries and raisins, musty, almost sourish-like yeast and tons of caramel and toffee as backbone. Light notes of vanilla-creme and a hint of sherry. Flavor is a rather basic toffee-caramel charged English barleywine. Alcohol warmth is highly present and adds a good deal of bite on the finish. Light caramel covered oranges, playful fruitiness and a touch of dry chocolate on the end. I think the cask nature of the beer really helped. I have no doubt this is rather thin in the bottle, as it wasnt exactly thick and chewy on cask. But the lack of carbonation and the thinner palate were not as much a hindrance on cask as they would be in the bottle. Borderline creamy texture, though quite loose on the end. I can see the flavor improving with age, and mellowing out and gaining more sherry/madeira notes, but if the body is as thin as everyone says it is in the bottle, then we’ve got quite a problem. There’s certainly no excuse for having a thin texture. I’ve had 25 year old Thomas Hardys that has a much better texture than this.