22oz Muddy brown. Cookies and malt. Flavor is straight apple cider and not the fermented kind. Is that the cognac? Watery too. Bad. 7 3 5 1 10

Deep dark brown coloured body with a very small, single centimetre to perhaps two centimetre tall off-white and tan head that fades fairly quickly. Aroma of super deep robust malts, nuts, earth, raisins, figs, molasses and a good deal of brandy and oak. While this is strong and aged, it does not smell like the perfect beer to me, and I could imagine that at a younger age this was even more pungent in a not-great way, so I believe I did this a favour and it still did not scream perfection. Medium-bodied; Deep robust malt and nutty flavours dominate with a lot of dry oak, grain, earth and rustic dryness more from the woods than anything else, but the alcohol and warmth is very noticeable here and still showing strength after these years. Aftertaste is strong with a lot of nuttiness, some grain, a good earthy profile and a slightly sweet rye, molasses and caramelised sugar note, but this is still a bit too strong and pungent after the time elapsed. Overall, a decent beer and showing some dark malts and sugars, but this is too potent, too thin, too simplistic and too malty for it to be considered a great beer, especially after this time in bottle that should have tempered the punch. I sampled this 65 cL bottle, purchased from Whole Foods in New York (Columbus Circle), New York on 27-November-2015 when my younger daughter was less than a year old (and I only had two kids!) for US$21,99 sampled on Thanksgiving with my entire family on 26-November-2020, almost exactly five years later.

22 oz bottle shared at the November DC RateBeer tasting. Didn't quite gush but slowly rose to the top with some nosy head poking above the bottle. Hazy brown with beige head. Aromas of dark fruit, toffee, malt. Tastes of dark fruit, toffee, caramel, honey. Medium-light body with a dry finish.

22oz bottle at the November DC Ratebeer tasting. Poured a very dark brown color with a small off-white head. Aroma was roasted malts. Malts, roasted, toffee notes. Roast chocolate notes. Sweet malts. Slight alcohol burn. BiL.

From a bottle at the November RB DC tasting. Thanks, Donnie! Pours a cloudy cola with an off white head. Aroma of bourbon and candi sugar. Heavy sweet flavors.

Draft @ Himmeriget, Copenhagen. Pours a dark amber ruby color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty spicy caramel aroma. Sweetish malty spicy caramel flavor. Has a sweetish malty spicy caramel finish.

Bottle aged for 1 year in the refrigerstor.dark brown color and carbonation is low. Strong aroma, marshmallow, cognac, alcohol, lots of alcohol, brown sugar. Aroma reminds me of JW Lee’s. Sweet, more alcohol in the flavor, cognac here duat, old paper.. Excellent barleywine.