500ml bottle from Sainsbury. Deep ruby in colour with very thin head. Nice malty raisiny aroma with chocolate and also more subtely syrup and hop too. OK in mouth, then nice alcoholic kick, with grainy choc and some good raisins/toffee and again drying hop. Not bad at all.

Bottle. Prune and brown sugar aroma. Reddish brown color - slightly cloudy with moderate head. Sweet nutmeg and prune malt flavor with moderate alcohol and bitter finish. A tasty barley wine that isn’t overpowering.

Bottled. Dark ruby red colour, beige foamy head, lacing. Fruit alcohol and some skunky notes in aroma. Fruity flavour with alcoholy sweetness. Nutty sweet aftertaste. Sticky palate.

1990 bottle: Wow. Ruby brown ale with moka head, fruity aroma with notes of cherry, cognac and xerez. Barley sugar taste with good hops and burned caramel . Oily mouthfeel, nicely blended tastes, with no alcohol burn. 9-4-8-4-16 2003 vintage: Raisiny malt aroma, lightly woddy. Malty treacle, with honey , hops, and alcohol warmth, lighter bodied than 1990 vintage, but well balanced. 7-4-7-3-15 Un gros merci a Dumdum!

Tried this after sampling the Wychwood Hobgoblin and found it to be very similar to the former beer. Complex flavor of caramels, dark fruit, raisin, and toast blending with cigar tobacco and raisin flavors from the hops. Tastes like a strong iced tea with brewing sugars. I can’t exactly liken this to many barleywines but I did enjoy the beer.

Pours a deep red color with no lasting head. Aroma is slightly metalic. Flavor is caramel malts. I do not get and fruit like others have. I also do not get much hops like the bottle says i should. Not the best barley wine I have had.

Bottled (BB 01/2005)
Dark ruby color. Small steady creamy coffee head. Malty, sweet barley nose. Liquid food: sweet, oily, chocolatey, smooth palate. Oily aftertaste.

Typical english brew. Clear ruby color, medium head. Aroma of roasted malts, typical english hops. Bitter and roasted malty taste, bit sweetness. Bitter palate. Decent.

Pours a clear light red-mahogany. Small dark banana-yellow head that fizzles away quickly. Strong aroma of hops and malt, quite alcoholic and surprisingly fresh smelling. Starts out sweet and I am tasting alot of caramel that is medium sweet and has a slightly candied sugar flavor with some fruit flavor (definitely not citrus fruit). This isnt really much of a barley wine. I am tasting only a little bit of dry dry barley malt on the finish. Flavor is predominantly caramel malt. At this point, I would call it an English Strong (lots of fuggles, alcohol, caramel malt) Good amount of fuggles hops kick in and are subtle yet evident. More malt coming through followed by an intensely dry finish with a good amount of alcohol present. Good balance in hops and malt, but the lack of bottle conditioning provides for a medium body and lacking complexity. It seemed like the flavor goes back and forth between fuggles and caramel/toffee. Still, quite drinkable and a good solid malt presence with a strong medium body makes this a good beer. As it warmed to room temp, the body turned salty and the alcohol really provided a warm fuzzy flavor. The beer became one of the better scottish ales I’ve had, proving to me that this wasnt a barley wine. Great carbonation level (very light) in the bottle. If only this was bottle conditioned. sigh. . .