(2005 vintage) Bottle courtesy of Sammy: Poured a light amber color ale with small foamy head with minimal retention and lacing. Aroma of dry malt is quiet weak compared to what I was expecting. Taste is strong on cardboard which is probably due to oxidation (makes me wonder about that label mentioning that this will aged with the best of them). I couldn’t notice any hops and malt was slightly watery with no sweetness at all. Definitely not something I would go back for in the future.

Draught chalice at Redbones on 12/26/06
Dull mahogany with light ebony tints and a slight flare of amber as well. Head is beige in color, quite small and poorly retained, fading to a ring rather quickly and leaving no lacing. Clear liquid, with medium-sized bubbles rising steadily.
Stiff, fruity esters barely cover up the alcohol warmth, while oily, toasted malts work with the bitter hops to create a dry, quite sharp/pungent nose. Some light, dark chocolate notes meld with the caramel malts to produce a bit of sweetness on the nose. But with breathing, it is swept away and wholly replaced by dry, yellow fruits, raisins and lightly piney hops. The malts recede almost to nothing, leaving a barren, soda cracker-like vapidness in their wake. And with a few more minutes, fusels arise and completely wipeout what was remaining, dominating the aroma entirely.
Caramel and bread are dabbed by yellow fruits (apricots, peaches, lemons), with a short-lived sweetness of pale and caramel malts that gives way to extreme wateriness for the style. Granted it dosent cloy with the sweetness and you certainly couldnt accuse it of being too thick and heavy, but this is just oddly thin. The strength of flavors, not to mention the horribly domineering, raw alcohol, does not fit with the body in the least. The flavor continues to dry, with brandy soaked raisins, crusty brown bread and flakes of dry, old toffee appearing. Wet/watery texture, medium carbonation which is very loose. Raw alcohol takes over in the flavor as it does in the aroma.