Bottle. Pours lightly hazy golden yellow, merlin white head. Nice lacing. Aroma is horse blanket, oak, funk. Flavor is dry, medium funk. Light body. Noice 5,8,8,5,16

Boon geuze made especially for the Villa Servais, the former mansion of 19th-century cellist François Servais located in Halle, protected as a monument in the 1980s and now, after restoration works, used for guestrooms, exhibitions and tearoom, among other things. This 'house geuze' is a distinct Boon blend, consisting of 1 year old 'young' lambic blended with 3 year old lambic - so skipping the 2 year old lambic, unlike e.g. Apogee, Mariage Parfait or Black Label. Thick and frothy, audibly crackling, egg-white, eventually settling, very firm and stable head remaining regularly shaped and closed for a very long time, sustained by a whirlwind of sparkling rushing frantically through an initially crystal clear, warm 'old golden' robe with apricot tinge, turning misty further on. Dry and funky aroma of dry hay, very dry sherry, unripe green plum, oxidized green apple peel, farmland, stale urine, horse stable, dried lemon peel, dusty old books or even very old newspapers, old linen cloth, extra dry champagne, petrichor. Spritzy onset, cava-like effervescence, very minerally, playing with impressions of dried Granny Smith slices, unripe Conference pear and green, wry plums, bone dry from the start with a 'malse' lactic sourness and little sharp lemony acidity. Dry hardtack-like core, jute rope and dry hay effects, with ongoing 'malse' lactic sourness but in a very thorough, all-drying, somewhat astringent way; this effect is reinforced by strong tannic woodiness in the end, paired with a retronasal effect of old fino sherry, stinging nettle leaf, dry leather (Brett) and dried lemon peel. The lactic sourness dries the tasting buds with utterly quenching effect, and all the way at the back, a deeply buried but eventually quite prominent 'old' hop bitterness manifests itself, lingering for a while, more so than I am used to from Boon lambics. Funky notes of farmland and old sweat pop up here and there and an outspoken but elegant minerality connects onset to finish. A rather restrained, bone dry geuze, like a very dry sherry, very suitable as an 'apéritif' and probably suitable for diabetics as well given the lack of sugars - but perhaps lacking a bit of body too. Quite distinct within Boon's geuze range, in any case, but one with souplesse and character, as well as a high degree of drinkability due to the dryness and the 'malse' character; the absence of 2 year old lambic is clear here, and almost as recognizable as the 3 year old lambic character itself. Certainly an interesting one, though perhaps not my favourite Boon geuze so far.