Grande Réserve Fermentée en Barriques - Chêne Français, Chêne Américain, Armagnac (2020)
Bières de Chimay (Abbaye de Scourmont) in Baileux, Hainaut, Belgium 🇧🇪
Belgian Style - Quadrupel / Dark Strong Special|
Score
7.79
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On the palate, we discover a perfect balance gives room to the fruity aromas. In the aftertaste, we value tannin from the wood and the sweeter malt flavours.
28% of Armagnac
24% of frenck oak
48% of american oak
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Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle at tasting shared by Rubin77, thanks. Malty aroma and taste, caramel, coke, light spicy notes, medium bitter. Full body, malty spicy caramel bitter finish with light alcohol notes. Ok.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle, many thanks Marko! Hazy brown color with beige head. Aroma is a good amount of raisins, wood, well-incorporated barrel, despite the clear Armagnac character. Taste is the same, complex and attenuated Belgian goodness. Not too sweet, rather dry in fact. Oily mouthfeel, good!
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 9
This (highly unusual) year's version of barrel aged blue Chimay, a series obviously inspired by La Trappe, but one I have been following from the start without missing one single edition - and one that has offered several true masterpieces in my opinion. Medium thick, mousy, pale greyish white, gradually opening and thinning head on an initially clear deep ruddy-mahogany beer with vermillion red glow, misty with sediment. Aroma of caramel sauce, dried fig, baked banana, candied dates, indeed brandy (though difficult to identify as armagnac), violet liqueur, raisin bread, brown honey, sweet paprika, hints of hazelnuts, candied cherries, pistachio nuts, Belgian chocolates. Sweet onset, candi sugar and yellow raisins with notes of fig and dried banana, medium carbonated with light but interesting minerally stings, smooth but full caramelly and brown-bready maltiness with a touch of chocolate, supple with spicy aspects of clove and cinnamon in the end, glowing in a warming, brandy-flavoured, yet nowhere harshly boozy finish, where some vanilla-like oak joins the spice and flowers retronasally. Ends a tad perfumey (violets) like most in this series, though less exuberantly so than e.g. the rum version of 2017; the woodiness is clearly there too, tannic and drying, but in a very soft, elegant, gentle way. Perfectly balanced barrel aged quad once again, beautiful as expected, nicely detailed and opulent yet remaining accessible and - proportionally - easily drinkable. One of the most balanced ones in this series perhaps, or at least one of the more restrained ones, but beauty often lies in restraint (especially when it comes to traditional European styles).
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle with the RateBeer München Tasting group at Hopdog, Munich Thurs' 23rd July 2020 a big thanks to Marko for bringing this one along. Quite dry, dark brown with a filmy head. Nice nutty nose, a little toffee, I really didn't know this existed, this is a great beer, however my rating doesn't do it justice.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Bottle, enormous thanks Laurent! Murky dark brown-amber, off white thick head. Soft aroma, citrus, esters, light soft alcohol, vague milk caramel, gummi bears. Soft taste, citric-yeasty, woody, lean, light,.quite drinkable for the 10.5%.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Wee bottle, thanks Marko. Darkest brown, golden creamy brown head. Dry boozy raisins, a bit of a old painting. Medium light foamy body. lightly dry wood, a hint booze and vanilla, spice, caramely light roast. A bit too dry, otherwise fun. Arrr
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
Bottle. Dark brown with a nice head, raisiny plummy sweetness in the nose, very fat. Flavor is Nadine, round, plum with umami but no soy, super smooth mouthfeel with massive carb. Caramel and biscuits. Super complex, great.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Corked bottle. Dark brown color. Caramel, dried fruit, oak and tobacco in the aroma. Malty sweet flavor. Caramel, bready. New oak, vanilla, Armagnac, white pepper. Complex. Nice.