Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 5.5

Next to his own core range (Saison, Saison Classic and Fonc�), Wim Tindemans also makes a series of commissioned beers exclusively for restaurants, shops and other commissioners in the Waasland region; this is one of them, made only and limitedly for a Spanish restaurant in Hamme. A beer with a very thick, towering high, eggshell-coloured, regularly shaped, lacing head and a deep bronze-tinged, ochre-ish amber colour, clear at first but cloudy with sediment. Aroma of toasted bread, coriander seed, blue plum, caramel, ethereal spicing of star aniseed, apricots, dried camomile (effectively used), raw pineapple, green banana, soggy brown bread, dried orange peel (cura�ao also having been used), brandy. Fruity onset but remaining fairly ’clean’, hints of pear, apricot and banana, spritzy carbonation, smooth and lean mouthfeel. Dryish middle with rounded caramelly and lightly bready maltiness, a tad soapy due to the coriander, the flavour of which becomes equally obvious as that of the camomile flowers, the latter matching well with a floral, mildly spicy hop bitter finish; the cura�ao also becomes clear in the end, but the star aniseed remains relatively subdued (which in this case is probably a good thing). Ends in some warming, brandy-ish alcohol. Apparently the intention here was to make this beer match Spanish cuisine and more specifically, lending it a general effect comparable with sherry; not sure if this has worked out entirely, but regardless of that intention, this is a very decent, technically flawless and interesting ale, with a good balance of flavours, nothing overly sweet or banana-like, clean, dry, to the point and not going into overdrive in terms of spicing, in spite of four different ones having been used. Pleasant enough and even if I only know the restaurant by name, I’m sure this is able to shine on a table filled with Spanish delicacies.