Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4.5

Sampled from bottle at "Hooghe Noorden Tasting 2025". Opaque black color, small off-white. Aroma is meh, way too much soy sauce. Don't like it. Flavor is malts, quite sweet, some spices, vanilla, pecan notes, boozy still. Hmm not really my thing. Too heavy for me.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Poured from a 375 ml bottle.
Aroma is malt forward with lots of caramel, toffee, burnt sugar, toasted bread and hints of chocolate and roast. Lighter nutty notes along with some vanilla and hints of cinnamon. Moderate bourbon and alcohol notes with hints of oak.
Pours dark brown with lighter brown hues on the edges and a small, thin, tan head that recedes quickly and disappears. No lacing and very long legs.
Flavor is rather sweet with lots of caramel, toffee, burnt sugar and toasted bread. Light notes of chocolate and hints of roast. Medium light bitterness and moderately strong alcohol notes. Light nuttiness with medium light vanilla and hints of cinnamon. Medium light whiskey notes and hints of oak.
Mouthfeel is full bodied with low carbonation. Low astringency and medium alcohol warmth.
Overall, a solid BA barleywine. I was afraid I wouldn't like it because the pecans and cinnamon would be overpowering, but both are done with a light touch while the vanilla gets to lead the way for the adjuncts. Really nice malt complexity. Good barrel and whiskey notes as well.

Real soft cinnamon on the finish, not overly adjuncty, but blessed by hints of nuts and winter warmer vibes on a delicious prune malt beverage.