Bottle at the hanging bat... Deep brown... Thin tan lacing... Soft sweet caramel toffee fruit... Soft sweet caramel toffee fruit nose oily sweets caramel toffee malts.. Soft sweet caramel toffee malts.. Sweet fruits caramel toffee malts sweet caramel.. Woody.. Light buggy fruit

Bottle. Color: Aroma: Sweetish, caramel, dark fruit, boozy Bourbon, red wine. Taste: Dark malt, dried dark fruit, vanilla, Bourbon, caramel, fudge, molasses. Boozy, subtle notes of red wine and sweet rum. Hints of red fruit. Some wood and a bit spicy. Above medium sweet, moderate bitterness. Sirupy. Over medium to full body, below average carbonation. Warming, boozy mouthfeel. Long lasting finish. Complex. Just a bit too sweet for me but still a very nice one to enjoy slow sipping on a relaxing evening.

Bottle, 330 ml, courtesy of Max. Shared with him and JFK10000. Brown with beige head. Caramel, dried fruit, dark fruit, some red wine notes, barrel, sweetish. Full bodied. Balanced yet very complex. Fantastic

Blended and barrel-aged barleywine by Siren - with both the beer's and brewery's name being feminine, I could think of no better beverage to toast to International Women's Day. Stubby bottle with crown cap covered in a thick layer of wax (always a joy to remove), bought from Etre Gourmet. Mousy, regular, pale yellowish beige, shred-lacing, slowly opening head leaving behind a mousy ring and flat islands in the middle, over a hazed, deep bronze-chestnut brown beer with ruddy mahogany hue. Intense, perfumey bouquet of walnut liqueur, strong vanilla-scenting oak wood (old furniture even), old oxidized madera, gingerbread, nougat, dried prunes, marmalade, kahlua, fig compote, armagnac, hazelnut paste, a vague stewed beef hint (proteins), crêpe Suzette, pecan nuts, fresh paint-like solvents. Sweet onset, candied figs coated in melting brown sugar with a handful of raisins thrown in, but balanced by a deep, background sourishness underneath; very light gravy-tinged umami hint but subtle and hidden. Softly carbonated but still spritzy enough to maintain high drinkability, with a very full, smooth, fluffy body; deeply hazelnutty and walnutty maltiness with sweetbready core and a layer of honeyish sweetness on top, quite desserty, yet dried by a strong tannic wood effect from the middle onwards producing very colourful retronasal oakiness (vanilla!) and followed by the expected glow of alcohol, very liqueurish and brandy-like, with a long peppery heat to it, on the edge of becoming (too) burning. Ends a bit wry on the tongue's root because of this strong alcohol presence, but it remains embedded in soft, bready malt and residual sugar sweetness, with a kind of black cherry-like juiciness and a dash of meaty proteins adding complexity. Very English barleywine yet very modern 'craft' at the same time, intense, a bit over the top in terms of booziness, but certainly a delight to sip slowly on a winter evening like this - Siren does not disappoint. Probably at its peak right now, with the first signs of maderisation being clear enough, though I still wonder if one more year could shave off the heat of the alcohol a bit.