Taster at gfs place courtesy of Sander, big thanks. almost black color, small coffee colored head. smells spices, cloves, sour cherries, cinammon, lovely smell. full body, light carbonation. tastes of cloves, spices, peppery, some bitter chocolate, cinnamon. finishes light to medium bitter with notes of cinnamon, cloves and xmas spices. hmm, interesting, nice, super xmas spices forward though. not the most balanced.

2020 bottle. Almost black. Smoke and cherry in the aroma. Wood, anis. Smoke, mint and anis in the sweetish flavor. Hints of wood, tobacco and cherry. Very tasty.

Kirschen sind tatsächlich sehr dominant, in Nase und Trunk. Wenn die aber Platz machen kommen Bourbon-Fass und Schokolade. Vom Rauchmalz kann ich nichts spüren, find ich aber auch nicht schlimm. Etwas Zimt und Anis meine ich noch zu schmecken. Schönes Weihnachtsbier.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle. Aroma is malt forward with roast, smoke and light chocolate notes. Light cherry, bourbon and oak notes with light alcohol spice. Pours black with a medium large, thick, pillowy, light mocha head that recedes steadily to a small film that lingers. No lacing and moderately large legs. Flavor is somewhat sweet with moderate roast and smoke notes with lighter chocolate and caramel. Moderately strong bitterness and light alcohol spice. Medium light cherry notes with lighter bourbon and oak. Faint salinity that hides in the smoke and cherry notes. Mouthfeel is full bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low, but present alcohol warmth. Overall, a unique beer. The smoke notes are a bit strong for me, but the cherry bitters character is light and works well.

Bottle - dark ruby pour - faint smoke in the nose; I wouldn’t know it was smoked if it wasn’t labeled as such - nose of whiskey and cherry bitters - in a lot of respects, this is remarkably similar to the Boulevard Manhattan Social Club I tried recently, as the nose and flavor are similar to a Manhattan cocktail - this is less sweet than that, and the salt adds a pleasant savory character to temper the sweetness and booze - some smoke arrives late - earth, oak, cherry, whiskey - there are ways in which this is more balanced than the Boulevard beer (it’s certainly less sweet), but isn’t any more complex or enjoyable - and since this is 10 bucks a bottle to the Boulevard’s 15 a four pack, I’ll certainly reach for that over this in the future.