37,5cl bottle (bottled 02/2025, BBF: 02/2030) from L’ Auberge de Poteaupré
F: big, tan, long lasting.
C: brown with red hue, clear.
A: rich malty, toffee, vinous, caramel, vanilla, figs, perfumed violet, banana, dried fruits, rum touch.
T: full malty base, caramel, mellow banana, warming alcohol, woody, violet, raisins, dried figs, bit woody vanilla, rum touch, medium carbonation, another nice Chimay BA I like this series yet may be not so complex as several years ago, fully enjoyed.

Bottle at home. 2009 bottle. A clear cola brown coloured pour with a fading tan head. Aroma is brown sugars, cola cubes, raisin loaf, white raisin. Flavour is composed of semi sweet, brown sugars, cola cubes, white raisin, Palate is semi, cola, oily, moderate fine carbonation. Interesting.

Just found some ancient incomplete notes with numerical values. Amazing beer.

Bottle.Dark amber with off white medium head.Roast, dry fruits,caramel flavours.Medium carbonation.

33cl bottle. No proper glassware was available when trying this one.Dark amber with huge head.Burnt caramel with red fruits and some metallic notes. .High carbo.

For this year's Chimay Barriques, the zealous trappist monks of Chimay decided to revisit the rum edition they did in 2021, with only a minute difference in proportions of the participating barrels: apparently the rum barrel now accounts for 25% instead of the 24% of four years ago... Indistinguishable and the same thing as the 2021 edition, in other words, so I suppose this new one should be merged with the 2021 entry, but then this goes for the 2017 edition as well, which was already the same as 2021... Just to be sure, and simply because I like this series, I am reviewing the 2025 separately here. From a corked 37.5 cl bottle under high pressure, opening with a 'bang' and considerable 'gun smoke'... Thick, foamy, audibly fizzing, pale yellowish beige, very moussey head, firm and stable and settling into a steady medium thick layer with irregular lacing dotted around the glass; initially clear, dark burgundy-brown colour with beautiful warm autumn-ruddy red glow and fine but omnipresent, very active sparkling, turning misty and more actually brown-robed with sediment. Strong bouquet of candied fig, caramel sauce, chocolate-covered cherry candy, raisins soaked in rum - and indeed that typical 'coconutty' rum effect as such, pronounced vanillin from oak wood (oak furniture), something solventy piercing through (varnish), almond, sugarplums, Parfait Amour liqueur, soggy brown bread, clove, vague nutmeg, dry autumn leaves. Spritzy onset, the high carbonation levels reflecting the high pressure in the bottle, distracting a bit from the flavours initially; sweet dried plum, candied fig, raisin and baked banana accents, some brown sugariness but nothing cloying, with a 'dim' sourish undertone; supple body, deeply caramelly and brown-bready maltiness with a slight nutty edge as in ordinary Chimay Bleue, while that overcarbonation annoyingly keeps irritating the tongue. Leafy hop bitter touches show up around the same time that the malts get a bit toasty - but then the 'barriques' set in, with a tannic wood effect, vanilla-like oak aromas retronasally, and a pronounced booziness, heating the back of the tongue and throat in a peppery way. This booze does taste like rum but only partially so - the other part of it is from the beer itself and has a more astringent effect, it seems. Overcarbonated and a bit too boozy for my personal liking, but those are my only 'complaints': generally speaking, this is another enjoyable offering in this interesting series, one I have followed from the very start (with that first, somewhat 'experimental' phase when different versions came out in no particular order) and will continue to follow. Ageing this is probably a good idea to shave off the sharper edges off the booze and get some of the carbonation out.

Gosh I never rated this. Cloudy golden pour into trappist glass. Fruit, a bit of spice, some sugar, a pretty decent trip.