Bottle from Mitra Bunnik, BB 12/01/2017, large sample. Slight hazy golden color, big rocky slight off-white head. Aroma is quite sweet, lots of raisin, some cognac notes, bit caramel, slight orange peel. Very sweet in taste, slight alcoholic. Maybe all you expect from a Kasteel, but the sweetness works out really well in this one. I quite liked it.

Fles 75cl thuis. Cognac, alcohol, warm, wat zoeten. Weinig bier, meer cognac. (4-2015).

Tap @ Cafe Moortgat. Dark brown coloured, off white head. Nose is caramel malts, sweet malty, spicy, bit of cognac. Flavour is caramel, cherry, some sourness, cognac, fruity, spicy and boozy. Fairly sweet finish.

75cl schenkt helder gouden in met prikkelende en schuimige witte kraag. aroma van zoet, alcohol, amandel, bloesem, honing, en Belgische gist. Smaken zijn redelijk zoet, zwak bitter, redelijk fruitig, sterk alcoholisch, hout, vanille, zeer duidelijke cognac merkbaar, erg floraal. medium body, glad en zacht van textuur. bier niet te koud drinken, deze prefereert een iets warmere drink temperatuur dan enkel een tripel. verder aardig poging. niet super

Cognac barrel aged Kasteel tripel from a luxurious 75 cl champagne bottle; 2013 vintage. Moussy, egg-white head consisting of fairly large bubbles and therefore dissipating rather quickly; colour is a slightly hazy, warm ’old gold’ with quite strong fizz. Spicy, sweet and alcoholic aroma of orange liqueur, fair amount of cognac indeed, banana, powder sugar, cooked corn, cider, honey, vanilla-like wood tannins, caramel candy, canned pineapple slices, white pepper, soap, ginger powder, rubbing alcohol. Fruity onset, peach, pineapple and sourish gooseberry touch, strong and tingling carbonation, honeyish sugar sweetness cloying to the teeth a bit; bit corny and caramelly, sweetish middle phase, quite light in body seen the high ABV, with spicy notes and the lingering sugar sweetness playing above it. Alcohol becomes increasingly apparent towards the finish, as a sharp, bitterish, astringent effect, lining the whole mouth cavitity as if you’ve been drinking some very strong liquor. A clear and quite strong cognac taste remains, along with woody tannins and lingering sweetness. I don’t like the regular version to begin with so my expectations of this were low; it shares its dull and cloying sweetness and alcoholic profile with the regular tripel, with the alcohol even reinforced here considerably by the cognac presence, which is everything but subtle. Should be a lot more refined and less alcoholic, but fortunately I like cognac and the woody tannins lingering in the mouth balance out the sweetness a bit, so as a whole, this is still more or less enjoyable. But I did find it difficult working my way through the whole bottle, the aroma is clearly more promising than what the taste delivers, and it is definitely not worth the exaggerated price of 23 or so euro I paid for it - I do not recommend spending your money on this.

750 c&c from Healthy Spirits in SF, CA. Pours translucent gold with a foamy/frothy white head. Aroma seems fruit ester with hints of oak and brandy. Full bodied or nearly. Flavor is mixed fruit ester, and the brandy is clearly present. Oak as well. It’s not super strongly flavored, but the flavors are weak either. Heat no problem til it hits down below. Seems to get some caramel with time. Finishes towards dry, a litte estery, a little brandied, and slightly oak astringent. Seems a bitter finish. A little different, but there are some subtle aspects. Arguably underrated.

75 cl bottle. Pours clear and golden yellow with a small white head. Aroma is mild phenolic and toasted malty. Mild fruity to floral. Toasted and mild estery into a dry finish. Fruity.