8.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

8.5 abv. Dark brown. Aroma is melasses caramel dried fig dark honey light smoke plums... very complex. Taste is sweet deep melasses with beautiful oily dried fruit body. Light bitterness balancing it. Thick oily mouthfeel. Long complex finish. Very nice.

6.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle, 0.33l, courtesy of Leon. Aroma of caramel, dried fruit, dandelion syrup and flowers. Pours clear dark brown color with medium sized but quickly diminishing light brown head and sparkling appearance. Taste starts with sweet caramel, bread and flowers, following is dried fruity and slightly alcoholic, while finish is average bitter. Medium body, oily texture and average carbonation in palate. Toast to Leon…

6

Sweet, malty, strong, dried fruits

7.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle, I think from Beyond Beer. Eight and a half percent. Dark brown, clear on first pour, small head. Nutty caramel nose. Flavor is nicely complex, some day yeast esters in there. Lots of caramel and brown sugar going on, prunes and such as well. Bready, tasty!

6.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle at home, dark brown beer, small head. Aroma is raisins, fruit, malt, caramel, sweet. Taste is the same, sweet, malt, raisins, fruit, caramel, not too bad

7.1

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

Bottle at Italian restaurant. Dark brown. Chocolate, figs, licorice, sweet malts, coffee. Sold sweet, medium bitter. Quite OK strong dark ale.

7.3

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Classic brew from one of Italy's pioneering and most influential craft breweries, from a typically Italian style bottle bought at an Italian delicacies shop in Waasmunster (Lekker Zuiders), cheers Ken! Medium thick, mousy, pale yellowish beige, quite dense and stable but still gradually diminishing and eventually completely opening head on a clear, dark chocolate brown-bronze beer with ruby red glow, turning lightly misty with sediment. Aroma of dried prunes, old raisins, hard caramel, chewing gum, some blood-like iron, old dried out chocolate cake, damp cotton cloth, dried elderberries, hints of brown sugar, thyme, almond, old gingerbread, homemade cola, dry old tea bags, coriander, background minerals. Sweet onset, restrained fruitiness of glazed pear and raisins, brown sugary sweetness too but not too cloying, medium carb, slick body; hard-caramelly and brown bread crust-like maltiness with bubblegummy and somewhat metallic side effects, sweetish but restrainedly so, adding a soft toasty bitterish aspect in the end - clearly this beer was inspired by the Scotch-based Belgian Christmas ale tradition, as I was already expecting. Mild spicy notes in the finish, some thyme and clove, with that metallic aspect lingering, as well as 'hard unsweet caramel' and a bit of toast, alongside a dash of herbal hop bitterishness; just as I am about to lose the coherence a bit, a soothing glow of brandy-like alcohol appears, binding all these flavours together. The main thing that somewhat bothered me still, is that metallic aspect, which seemed to accentuate the toasty bitterness of the malts in a less pleasant way - reminiscent of industrial Belgian Christmas ales from larger breweries (macro-brewed abbey beers). Feels a bit 'semi-industrial', as if a brewery much bigger than Baladin would come up with the same old Belgian style Christmas ale formula. I had some very positive experiences with this brewery (mostly with that fascinating Xyauyu series) but this is a bit of a disappointment, I'm afraid...

7

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

750 ml corked and waxed bottle, as Baladin Leön, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. BB date Nov. 2014. ABV is 9%. Hazy dark brown colour, large off-white head. Aroma of mild spices, dark dried fruits and rotting fruits. Malty and mildly spicy flavour, notes of brown sugar and caramel, hints of vanilla, but still not too sweet. Dark dried fruits again. Light bodied for its strength, and pleasant to drink.