Scotch (‘wee heavy’) flavoured with Bourbon (the vanilla variety, not the liquor), aged in Laphroaig barrels and brewed with whisky malt (malt normally used for whisky – and nowadays by brewers sometimes in Scotch style beers to exaggerate ‘Scottishness’); 75 cl bottle from De Moor, apparently a 2018 vintage so tasted at five years of age. Bottle numbered 493 so clearly a limited edition. Thin and open, pale greyish-beige, shred-lacing head, dissolving over a hazy dark chestnut brown beer with burgundy hue. Aroma of caramel liqueur, still clear vanilla (very remarkable after five years – but of course strongly supported by the vanilla-like properties of oak wood in this case), chestnut, single malt whisky very obvious, ripe pear and elderberry jam, raisin, pear syrup, tawny port (including a whiff of beautiful portorisation from ageing), bee wax, old brown honey, pecan nuts. Sweet onset with vague sourish edge, softly carbonated with impressions of fig, raisin, blackberry and ripe pear but generally clean and slick; smooth, bit resinous mouthfeel, noticeably thinned by alcohol, with a caramelly and chestnutty malt core, the slickness accentuated by the wheat portion. Lingering candied dark fruit sweetishness alongside gently drying woody tannins and lovely portorisation in the finish, some light herbal hops but remaining primarily (very) malty, until very clear single malt whisky appears, dominating the finish yet maintaining tight connections with the caramelly malts and vanilla-scenting oakiness. Some actual vanilla seemingly also has survived the five years of ageing, to my surprise (normally this ingredient behaves a lot more volatile). Complex and elegant construction, the booziness must have softened a bit in the past five years but is still very noticeably there, but not to the point where it becomes obnoxious. By far the finest Feniks beer I ever enjoyed – and I think the ageing treated it exceptionally well.