31 December 2023. New Year’s Eve Tasting - Cheers to Anke, Elke, Gregory & Silke! Bottle from a Durbuy shop.

Cloudy black, no head. Aroma of blue plum, blackberry, wood, sweet whisky, dark fudge, fondant, walnut, dried fig, tobacco, leather, coffee dregs. Taste has sweet blue plum, pear & blackberry with a sourish blackcurrant streak, slightly roasted and dark-chocolatey. Earthy & peppery hoppy finish, lingering dried fruits, tobacco, wood and warming whisky-like alcohol. Medium body, oily texture, flat carbonation. Old and oxidized profile but seemingly fitting the base beer.

Very dark brown with a thin, beige head. Aroma is less enveloping than I’d like, but this had been forgotten in the fridge and was a bit too cold. Hints of oak, toffee and berries. Taste is vinous tart and mildly sweet. Finishes with a lingering berry tartness. Medium-bodied, very mild carbonation. Surprisingly simple in the end.

7/V/23 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: VI/2023 (2023-414)

Clear dark brown to black beer, fizzy light beige head, unstable, dissipates immediately. Aroma: lovely, nice oxidative notes, dried fruits, dark chocolate notes, whisky, coffee, vanilla, good dark roast, very nice! MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: lots of alcohol, whisky, a bit sourish, spicy, a bit sugary, more alcohol, malty, gentle roast, pretty oxidized, very strong whisky flavour. Aftertaste: sourish, lots of alcohol, bitter roast, whisky, oxidation, raisins, very gentle roast, bitter finish, a hint of dark chocolate, earthy, tobacco, bitter, meh. Damn, this smelled much better than it tastes.

Sample (10.5% 2020 vintage, thanks fonefan!). Black colour, small off-white head. Aroma is nutty, some alcohol, mild toffee as well as some slight spiciness too. Flavour is roasted, some old black cold coffee bitterness along with a bit of sherry.