8.5

Elegant as wheat wines can be... this one is bold. Still, after 7 years.

8.3

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

bottle with friends waiting in line for 2024 goose island beers. Aged well in the 5 years it sat - lovely barleywine - complex and awesome

7.8

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8

2019 bottle from a friend. Thanks for making this available! Pours a clearish copper with a full finger of beige head that dissipates. Bourbon, honey, vanilla and caramel all present on the nose. Oak, vanilla, Werther's Original toffee, raspberries and honey on the palate....all wrapped up in bourbon. Sweet and smooth, but boozy on the finish. After 5 years in the bottle this held up pretty well outside of some floaties.

7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

On tap @Kool Keg 2/2/24. Watched the bartender pour two full tulips of this out to make sure the line was clear... Clear, very dark amber, ring of lace but otherwise still pour. Toffee & sweet cream nose. A little tea. Lush toffee liquor with just a bit of coffee oxidation. Coffee creamer, coffee caramels, slight medicinal bitterness, low oxidation. A touch syrupy, warming not hot, still nearly flat. Pretty good. Probably better fresh.

8.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Poured from 500mL bottle. Hazy caramel with a bit of sediment (bottom of the bottle). Bourbon, caramel, mild vanilla, quite nice.

8.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9

Bottled September 8, 2019, drunk 12/7/23. Got some protein break in this, but nbd. Medium amber. Small, beige head immediately to ring. Oaky with light toffee and very round, playful fruitiness. Not too extreme on raisin, fig, plum, so that's good. Hint of vanilla. Impressed how oaky it is. Smells great, honestly. I started a bit colder than usual, so I'm not getting any alcohol, unsurprisingly, but I'm impressed with how much barrel is here. Sweet, for sure, with a really cool toffee-vanilla-banana-creme brulée flavor blend and good oak tannin and bourbon spice and dryness throughout. There's definitely alcohol but it's not raw/sharp. It adds in the job of cutting the dense, sticky, toffee-heavy malts. I love this stuff. It's sweet, but there's proper balancing acidity. Just about no oxidation either, which is impressive. I see all the lower scores here, but I guess this has just aged really nicely in the brewery's cold storage.

7

Gotta start clearing out for Prop Day 😉 There’s some seriously lumpy sediment in this one, which I’m guessing is normal since it seems to be in other pics. Tastes fine but is pretty off-putting texturally.

8.2

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8

Draft: Poured dark marble brown with a beige head. Aroma is boozy, vanilla, malty, caramel, toffee. Taste is boozy, malty, bourbon, sweet, vanilla, toffee.