On draught at the brewery, 9/30/2005. Pours a murky, unfiltered maroon to deep chocolate brown-beige with some darker espresso-yellow hues on the edges. Nice to see a creamy, well-retained tan-beige head with some light auburn flecks in there. Great Divide always seems to do very well with appearance/head retention, even in their oak-aged beers and this is no exception. Left spotty lacing on the glass as it receded, but it was a heavy, almost limp liquid that did not produce sheets of lacing. Aroma smelled of very sweet, soft vanilla-cream, butterscotch and hints of bakers chocolate. Notes of dates, old cherries and gingerbread, with a pleasant, almost vinous mix of raisins and cola and more butter toffee. Fairly dry overall, and the oak chips are well restrained. The flavor begins with a mix of light alcohol notes, not sharp and offensive, but strong and warming. Cherries, dates, toffee and buttercream, with a moderate amount of woodiness and lightly bitter chocolate on the end. Very easygoing mouthfeel, low to moderate carbonation, with the texture ranging from sweet and lightly sticky, to lightly slippery on the end. The oak chips seem to replace the spices, and sweet cream and chocolate seem to dominate the finish, with a low hops bitterness and flavor. Served very cold to start, it’s an easy, simple drink and needed a good deal of warming before the many subtle flavors of this English Old ale meets American oak-aged strong ale came forth. Medium-full body overall, though never heavy or burdensome on the palate.