Botella @El Cabanon, Avilés. 11/12/2024. Color negro opaco corona de espuma beige aromas y sabores tostados, café, chocolate.

Well, this the top rated Schwarzbier, so here goes. 750ml cork and cage brown bottle. Dark brown, almost black with a tad ruby-copper highlights. The head is frothy, mocha-coloured with average retention and a ring of foam left. Molasses and toffee aromas - hints of dark fruits, wood and alcoholic scotches. The mouthfeel is silky, with a little stickiness and decent dryness in the finish to not be too syrupy. Roasted malt base taste with enough sweetness from the Bourbon, but all blended well with the Rye and other barrels. Nothing stands out too much, as all well-balanced and quite smooth for such a high ABV. The alcohol is actually very well-hidden in the mouth, not warming as much as the nose gave out. Molasses, raisins. dates, liquorice, different Whisky notes, light wood tartiness. Quite a nice Schwarzbier with a lot going on, but all so nicely blended - worth trying every year for sure.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black lager with a medium size dark brown foamy head with OK retention and light lacing. Aroma of light roasted malt and black chocolate notes with some wonderful warming barrel notes. Taste is a great mix of chocolate notes with some roasted malt notes and some vanilla with woody notes of whiskey, scotch and bourbon with some faint residual sugar rounding out any rough edges there may have been. Truly wonderful sipper.

Corked bottle at Phill, 18-08-2020 lot 9104
Black colour, tan head. Wonderful aroma od dark bread, rye bread, cereals. Full bodied, but lean, with moderate sweetness; there is some malt depth, dark chocolate, some dark breadcrust, burnt sugar.
Elegant and very well constructed.

750mL bottle, pours jet black with a small beige head. Aroma is loaded with bourbon barrels, with a touch of peat, bready malt, and a hint of roast. Flavour reveals heavy bourbon upfront, accentuated well by some peated whiskey from the Islay (more than the nose suggested), vanilla beans, and moderate sweetness. The bourbon and Islay complement each other very well. The finish is moderately sweet, somewhat boozy, and all round beer refined. Elegant.