Barleywine aged on whisky barrels, one in a series apparently; the whisky at service here is Teaninich, a lesser known Highland whisky owned by multinational beverage concern Diageo (and used in Johnnie Walker’s blends). Shared with my girlfriend Goedele. Initially thick and frothy, yellowish pale beige, membranous-lacing head, thinning but still remaining remarkably stable for a beer this strong; beautiful pure and very deep amber robe with copper red glow, clear at first but cloudy (with protein bits) in the end. Intense aroma, unsurprisingly very strong on the whisky with a smoky note, next to impressions of walnut liqueur, orange peel soaked in cognac, dried figs, caramel, dry biscuit, dried wormwood leaf, varnish. Restrained sweetness in the onset (less than expected in fact), dried apricot and fig notes with a vague sourish touch, medium carbonated; full, slick and very vinous mouthfeel with early burning alcohol effects. Dry-biscuity, bit peanutty malt core with a light toasty edge and wormwood-leafy hop bitterness – yet, above all and no surprise at this strength, a dominant, wry and hot alcohol effect, largely consisting of the whisky but adding fusel alcohol overtones as well, while some woody effects appear, a retronasal smoky touch comes and goes and this peanutty maltiness lingers on. As feared, the whisky dominates here, way too much so for me personally; sometimes less is more, and this one would definitely benefit from less obvious booziness (and perhaps a sweeter, thicker malt profile). That said: kudos to Bram Neudt for at least daring to launching something as bold and uncompromising like this on the often annoyingly conservative Belgian market. And who knows how this superstrong barleywine will turn out with a few years of cellaring on it…