Cask at Duke of Ellington, Southampton. Deep golden. Aroma of hay. Honey and bready malt up front Medium sweet and fairly soft with some butter and nice chewy malt character. Mild, lightly salty finish. Well balanced.

500ml bottle. Pours almost black, but with a brown rather than a reddish colour when held to the light; off-white head fades quickly; malty aroma; sweet malty taste with a dry, nutty content; dryish finish.

500ml Bottle. Gold in colour with a thin white head; pronounced malt aroma, almost like a Speyside whisky; dry, smoky and silky smooth in the mouth; then a sour, bitter, and clean, aftertaste. A sipping beer.

500ml bottle. Pale copper body with a white head. Light and fruity aroma. Flavor is bitter, slightly roasted caramel malt and fruity. A bitter but short finish.

Cask. Half at The Cayo Arms, Cardiff. Amber colour. Missing head. Fruity aroma with a malty touch. Light hoppy fruit notes in flavour supported by dark fruits. Dry ending. Oily (02.02.2007).

Bottle: Deep brown coloured, small and stable, slightly lacing off-white head; moderate roast-malty, a bit metallic nose, nutty, too; light bitter, mainly dry flavour, light bodied; hints of caramel, nuts, roasted malt in the faint bitter finish. Not unpleasant, quite tasty for a beer of 2.8%.............

Bottled. Brownish amber, average head. Fruity nose. Sweetish with some drying grassy hops. Some sulphur and minerals. Soapy and light-medium bodied. Bready malt lies in the background of minerals and resin. A bittersweet sensation linger in the finish.

Bottle.Brown colour with an off-white head. Aroma is toffee, malt. Flavour is toffee, malt, sweet, fruit, hop.

Bottled. It pours deep golden, almost copper, with an off-white head leaving nice lacings. Fruits, sweetness and toffee in the aroma. The flavor has sweetness, toffee, malt and some fruits and hops. A bit too thin, but smooth beer. Quite decent and quaffable, but i found it a bit boring and disappointing. (061228)

500ml bottle from Cask & Glass, Tonbridge, the best offy in East Kent. BBE Dec 07. Rich ruby colour with thin beige head. Not sure what I expected from this. Syrupy malt with some peppery hop aroma. Rich fruit. However in the mouth you can still tell that it is pasteurised due to that awful candy sugar, boiled sweet flavour. Raisiny malt finish is good, nice fruit and a decent hop presence. Fine beer for the winter, the alcohol doesn’t make it harsh, so it does show some adeptness. Like GarethYoung I thought that it was a bit empty in the palate.