12 oz bottle, 2010 version. Pours orange amber with an off-white head. Toasty red grape/raisin aroma with some toffee and caramel. Malty caramel and toffee flavors with a touch of oxidation, a bit of bitterness. Decent, but nothing special.

Leave this beast hibernating for a while; it’s potent as hell. Color is good, a deep orange-red, but the nose is a wine-tinged doughy funk that leaves you wanting. The first sip is very spicy and dry, yet the malts quickly take on a huge sweetness, heavy and caramel-like in its sugary rush, almost overwhelmingly so. But the incredibly hot finish gives the beer an unwanted saccharine turn, leaving you wishing you’d left this bottle in the cellar for another year or so. (3/30/09)

355 ml. bottle from the supermarket, 2009 "vintage". Copper-red colour with little to no head. Malty aroma that becomes more wine-like and fruity when warmed. Big taste, moderate sweetness and massive impressions of dried fruit. Some cherry and red-grapes. Alcohol is present, but not as much as you would fear from the 10,8%. Good price - taste ratio.

Bottle. Poured a very dark copper color, small creamy head. Boom! Aroma is alcohol first and foremost, then raisins, sweet malts, touch of hops. Flavor is heavy on the dried fruits, sweetness from the malts. Extreme warming sensation while drinking. Certainly in this beer’s case, it’s a sipping beverage, probably best consumed over a long period of time.

2008 Vintage Pours a crystal clear solid brown with great looking pink/ruby highlights when held to light. Smallish off white head sticks around for a small while. Smells of caramelized malts, toffee, a bit of alcohol. Very malty aroma, very little if any hop presence. Tastes of caramel, alcohol, very sweet with hints of burnt sugar and molasses. Mouthfeel is creamy/oily, body was medium, carbonation low but appropriate. Decent brew, definitely a sipper. I thought the body was a little light for the style. The caramel malt made this one seem almost one dimensional, I’m curious to see how this ages.

2008 vintage sampled 3/9/2011 Pours a deep reddish brown with a thin off white head that disappears almost instantly. Smells of caramel, toffee, and sweet candied malts. Surprisingly there is still some alcohol in the aroma as well as a touch of wet dog. Taste is sweet malty with raisins and caramelized sugars. A touch of alcohol in a fairly dry finish. Thinnish body with a sticky/watery mouthfeel and light level of carbonation. I think I prefer this one fresh. The alcohol still seems a bit too present and the body is a tad thin. I have a couple of older bottles that I will crack open one of these days and revisit this again.

0.33L bottle, stable small cream coloured head with big bubbles, hazy laight orange to dark red colour, aroma of cocoa, date syrup, dried figs, dried pressed apricot (leder) orange pil and nuts, flavour of dates, orange peel and nuts with a strong complementing bitterness and some alcohol, long bitter sour aftertaste. A nice example of a bitter hoppy barleywine , but not over the top.

Slight hazy amber with a fast disappearing off-white head. Aroma is very sweet, malty, dried fruit and quite alcoholic. Flavor is heavy sweet and there is almost no bitterness left in this vintage 2005. I’ve had this before and never been a fan, but storing has certainly improved it. 070111

Bottle@Home. Amber with a shortlived white head. Nose is dark dried fruit, almond, caramel and a little booze. Taste is like armoa, long finish with warming alcohol. Medium body, soft carbonation

355 ml bottle from 2005. Slightly hazy dark amber with very small off-white head. Flavour is malt, dark fruit, sweet, alcohol, caramel and hops.

2005 Bottle - thanks Cletus. Pours a murky amber color with a wispy tan head. Strong aroma is sweet, malty, fruity, vinous... definitely has a resemblence to sherry. Wonderfully smooth mouthful is creamy and soft. A mellow flavor is malty, but really light (aged) in citrus. Still retains some hints of sherry. Bits of the abv warming become noticeable. Hard to truly evaluate this as I’d like to try a newer vintage. 5 years on this bottle seems to have mellowed to a point at which I’d suspect it is just a shell of it’s former intensity. Deserving of a future re-rate!