Can. Color: Red copper, slightly hazy, thin beige head. Aroma: Dark dried fruit, smoke.fudge, vanilla. Taste: Smoke, driwd dark and red fruit, caramel notes, some vanilla and boozy Bourbon hints. Bourbon getting somewhat stronger towards and at the finish. Nicely balanced and nice complexity, with the smokey part of it as a constant red line. Just over medium body, just below average carbonation. Nice one.

Kompaan has very pleasantly surprised me with their first Foreign Legion series in 2020, and has a new 2021 series ready now – with new names, but also a recurring one: Johnny Thunder, a smoked barleywine, was already part of the 2020 series, yet now returns in Heaven Hill bourbon barrel aged (and canned) form. Thanks to Craftmember for sharing. Egg-white, thick and frothy, small-bubbled and thinning, but generally stable head, lightly hazed deep and pure amber colour with almost coppery tinge, filled with very refined sparkling. Aroma of smoked bacon, smoked paprika, caramel, vanilla-scenting oak wood, dried apple slices, brown honey, dry tea bags, brandy, candied figs, white pepper, vague hint of white chocolate. Sweet, almost honeyish yet non-cloying onset, candied fig and yellow raisin notes, soft carb, rounded and lightly vinous mouthfeel; sleek caramelly maltiness with peanutty and bread-crusty edges, gradually shifting to Rauchmalz, adding a clear and outspoken smokiness of smoked bacon and smoked paprika, as well as a touch of umami; herbal hoppiness in the end, working together with tannins from the barrels to dry the finish to a high degree. Lovely notes of tea, dried herbs and dried fruit linger, while the bourbon adds a gentle warmth without imposing itself too much on the base beer. A bit boozier perhaps than last year’s non-barreled (and bottled) version, but the bourbon barrel ageing has been done to perfection here, adding further complexity to an already fairly complex beer. What a lovely series this Foreign Legion is.