6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Bottle from Belgiuminabox near Antwerp. The third batch in this series of Inglorious Quad BA projects, with only the minutely printed "Batch #3" in the upper left corner of the label giving away that this is the Bunnahabhain edition - though the whisky itself is strangely not mentioned anywhere. Very slow gusher but nothing dramatic, didn’t lose a drop. Irregular, lightly lacing, moussy, yellowish beige head consisting of both minute and large bubbles but retaining well on the edge; black robe with translucent, hazy, ochre-ish brown edges with wine red hue, the colour of which is visible till about half an inch off the edge; adding the sediment also adds tiny dots of pale yeast bits here and there, quite conspicuous against the pitchdark background. Aroma dominated by strongly iodine-like peat on the one hand and - slightly less so - a manure- or even slurry pit-like FFF odour on the other hand, neither of which I associate with ’deliciousness’, but fortunately the latter fades away after a while; other impressions, if you manage to push both these strong odours aside which I reckon requires an experienced nose, include overripe brambleberries, pear syrup, caramel, dried plum, black tea, soggy brown bread, whisky, vanilla-like wet oak wood, melting brown sugar, liquorish, damp leaves, medlar, cloth. Sweet onset, banana ester but restrainedly so, hints of blue plum and ripe pear with an expressive blackcurrant- or elderberry-like sourishness underneath (more expressive than usual even - could be the fruitiness of the whisky itself), slight umami accent somewhere (beef stock), medium carbonated with a full but smooth and slick, bit sticky mouthfeel carrying along the fruit aspects as well as residual brown sugar sweetness; the gentle ’black berry’-like sourishness also travels along over a bready, lightly caramelly malt sweet middle phase with a subtle toasted bitterish note in the end, reinforced with a touch of spicy, leafy hops. Needless to say, the peat returns retronasally, but less sharply so than expected based on the aroma and with a more genuine moist peat-like character rather than ’medicinal’ iodine; wet oak (vanilla-ish) adds some drying tannins and a notably whisky-like alcohol effect (and eventually even whisky flavour) rounds things off in the very end, establishing a pleasantly warming, slightly astringent afterglow. The peat is strong in this one: ’peated beers’ did not exist yet when I started rating almost twenty years ago and I had to learn to appreciate them gradually, which is working better with every new beer in this ’style’ I taste. This one is clearly anything but subtle and the peat covers almost the entire aroma as well as a big part of the finish in the flavour, but the rest of the flavour is indeed still very quadrupel-like, albeit ’darker’ and more toasted (almost approaching something along the lines of Scotch ale, the Belgian way). The manure-like smell was off-putting at first but luckily faded to almost nothing eventually, but still I must conclude that this is one of those beers that taste better than they smell. I would, however, recommend these guys to have a close look at what e.g. Dochter van de Korenaar does when it comes to ’peated quads’, because they haven’t quite reached the standard of Embrasse Peated Oak Aged yet, a beer following the almost exact same concept. Passable, this one, but I am looking forward to further variations of this quad on, for example, wine or cognac barrels.

7.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Zwart bier met weinig schuim. Smaak is krachtig warm, zoet en kruidig met iets van anijs, drop en kersen.

7.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle, 11.4%. Mild chocolate powder aroma, vinous finish. Very dark brown colour, seems clear. Has a deep red shine. Small stable light brown head. The flavour is vinous with a mild chocolate note. Quite smooth alcohol note,

7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle. Pours hazy very dark brown with airy but stable tan head. Dark aroma of caramel, raisins, malt and yeast, with touches of vanilla. Sweetish flavour of caramel malt and fruit, with notes of barrel and roast and touches of yeast and hops. Estery aftertaste with some bitterish, boozy hints. Warming alcohol presence. Decent.

7.1

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle, 10.3%. Sweetish and caramelly aroma, some brown sugar, perhaps with a touch of toffee. Clear dark brown colour with a deep red shine. Big stable brown head. The flavour is sweet but not too sugary. Vinous and citric with a rather boozy note. I should have kept it in the cellar for a year or two, but that is too late now, I guess :-)

7.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Bottle. Pours hazy coffee brown with airy,mrocky but stable tan head. Clear aroma of caramel,mmalt,mfruit and raisins,mwith notes of alcohol and hops. Sweet flavour of caramel malt, raisins and Belgian yeast, with notes of fruit and hops touches of spices. Bitterish, boozy aftertaste with estery notes and mild acidic hints. Warming alcohol presence. Decent.

4

Zuriger dan verwacht. Pittig karakter !

7

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle shared at home. Thanks to W C for the trade. Black with cream head. Very woody. Roasted chocolate malts, prunes, strong whiskey, peat, sour rotten wood, alcohol. Big sweet, peated spiciness or is it spicy peatedness? Lots of booze and light bitter. Over medium body, very alcoholic, spirit high, soft carbonation. --- Beer merged from original tick of Inglorious Quad Whisky Barrel Aged - Batch 3 - Bunnahabhain - on 09 Jan 2018 at 11:41 - Score: 7

7

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle shared thanks to sjogro. Hazy very dark brown with beige head. Huge, huge Scotch whisky. This is basically like drinking watered down Bunnahabhain. There’s some peat, sour berries, light caramel and grapes too. Medium sweet, light sour, salty and bitter. Full bodied with slick feel. Not much left of the base beer I guess, but this is quite enjoyable if you like whisky but also in small amounts.