The beer pours a reddish mahogany brown with mild haze. The head is small and beige and fades to a ring of bubbles after a minute or two. The initial aroma is a tad boozy, but once I took a sip and stuck my nose in closer for a better smell, the alcohol presence blends into the mix of sweet malt, Belgian Christmas-y spicing and earthy yeast. Nutmeg, peppercorns, cinnamon, cookie dough, honey, gooey caramel, wood, raisins, figs, dates, candied plums and overturned earth. It’s warm and sweet. Kinda makes me think of eating fresh snickerdoodles and oatmeal raisin cookies next to a Christmas tree. It really just oozes Christmas in a Belgian-style ale way without getting cloying or overly spiced like many Christmas beers. More of the toasty, bready malt notes come out as the beer warms. The taste is similarly strongly holiday-ish - sweet, spiced and earthy/woody - without pushing any one note too hard. More honey flavor comes through than expected. It’s a warm, rich beer. Lots of malt flavor. There’s an unexpected hoppiness and a mild chalky note in the finish. Mouthfeel is smooth, though there is a bit of booze lurking around the edges. It’s mostly just warming, though. I had no real expectations with this beer, and happily, it turned out to be one of the best holiday spiced ales that I’ve tried.