Bottle. Color: Lightly hazy golden, white head. Aroma: Funky, farmyard, hay, very light Bourbon hints. Taste: Combination of farmyard-like wild yeast funk, notes of hay, oak wood, tart and sweet berries, light hints of citrus fruit, subtle sweetish (for this style) Bourbon, vanilla hints. Quite boozy, although I wouldn't guess it's 11% when I didn't know. Medium to just over medium body, average carbonation. Long lasting finish. Light to moderate tart and sweet and very light bitterness. Dry-ish and bit sticky finish. Very nice and complex. Great Lambiek Fabriek once again. Very interested to see what ageing will do with this beer, luckily there's one more in my cellar.

75cl bottle (bottled 03/21) from Prik & Tik Dranken Marlou. F: no real. C: deep gold, light hazy. A: funky, banana, bit vanilla, grapes, woody, white wine, pear. T: full body, woody, white wine, banana, vanilla touch, gooseberries, bit bready, warming alcohol yet not disturbing, bit slicky mouthfeel, there is almost no carbonation probably due to BA yet very nice balanced for the style, great beer, fully enjoyed.

Lambiek Fabriek's latest to date, an impressively strong lambic aged on Gouden Carolus whisky barrels - the famed Gouden Carolus brand in Mechelen has indeed been producing whisky for years, and word went out on the grapevine that they offered their whisky barrels to a select number of fine brewers to age their beer in (Verzet is another one of those). Gunsmoke coming out of the bottle after opening, followed by 'belated' gushing - but nothing too violent. Audibly crackling, beaten egg-white, thickly moussy, large-bubbled but relatively stable head, pale ochre-golden blonde robe, misty with lively sparkling. Aroma of indeed clear Gouden Carolus whisky (I had it some years ago when it first came out), incorporating this banana, candied pineapple and vanilla effect into a lambic context, mingling with peaches soaked in alcohol, wild apple, damp straw, stale lime juice, wood sorrel, dust, unripe nectarine, wet vanilla-like oak wood, peanuts soaked in white wine vinegar, green pear, dry sherry. Lively onset, very estery and mildly tart, yoghurty lactic acidity in a gentle way, lots of sparkling effervescence; impressions of gooseberry, cooked green apple and unripe nectarine, with even hints of ripe white grape and banana coming from the Gouden Carolus whisky. Soft and full, almost 'fluffy' body, lovely brioche-breadiness under drying and notably vinous tartness with a deep oaky woodiness to it - but then the sweetness of this particular whisky gains momentum, with this very memorable yellow fruit effect coming in (banana even), mellowing the overall tartness of the lambic. The Gouden Carolus whisky flavour is all around here, including its soothing alcohol warmth, vanilla scent and sweet yellow fruitiness, but so is Lambiek Fabriek's home lambic quality - and both unexpectedly merge into one whole. Ends warming and almost sweet-sour, but most importantly: ends successfully. I never would have imagined even after having tasted all their previous lambics, but the Lambiek Fabriek crew managed to achieve something I have long considered impossible, despite notorious attempts by Cantillon and 3 Fonteinen: they made me enjoy a lambic with an ABV over 10%. With this achievement in mind, in cannot but grant this Colon-Elle a formidably high score - and the bottle was still young, imagine what this becomes with a few years of cellaring on it...

Good, just yellowish head over hazy yellow-golden beer. Very dry woody, the spirit very traceable immediately. Sweet-ish. Again spirit, but I would have guessed brandy rather than Bourbon; the usual vanilla just turns it a tad sweet in a boozy (but good) way. Dryness of the lambic is perfectly counterbalanced by the brandy. Raisins, sultanas. Good carbonation! Light acidthinning, but still quite slick. Despite the booze, one would never guess 11%. And yet another tour-de-force from the tastiest factory in the world.