bb (18428) reviewed Cuvee de Tomme from The Lost Abbey 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle. Black Label. Very dark mahogony with a nice cocoa head. Opening the bottle brings lots of cherry aroma. Gives way to a whiskey aroma, chocolate, and sweet malt. First sip starts with lots of tart cherry - but it’s fruitier and lighter than expected. There’s oak and a bit of malt. Lighter bodied than expected. It turns into a nice refreshing beer with some sweetness and a good tart cherry flavor with some background chocolate. It’s good, but I wish it had a little more body and more at the end instead of finishing very dry. It just gets tiring and there’s a little too much whiskey barrel and not enough bret to add complexity.
SpringsLicker (4048) reviewed Cuvee de Tomme from The Lost Abbey 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Thanks to Vac for both joining us at Noogfest and bringing a small vertical of PP. Bottle # VNV31 I think it was the 2003? I’m not a sour beer fan, but when they are like this one, I can go in that direction. Maybe my palate is beginning to change?? No head over a murky dark brown body. The aroma has some alcohol and a sweet, pipe tobacco pouch aroma. Very sour with cherry coming through nicely as the sourness fades on the tongue. Surprisingly good despite the sourness.
Ungstrup (52110) reviewed Cuvee de Tomme from The Lost Abbey 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9.5
[At GBBF 2004] A dark brown beer with a small disappearing orange head. It has a great sour aroma with notes of overripe fruit - just like a Belgian Sour Ale. The flavor has a fantastic sourness, that draws out the mouthwater, but it also contains notes of overripe berries and wood. The sourness leaves You with a dryness in the mouth. Fantastic - if You like sour ales - You’ll love this one.
Oakes (33493) reviewed Cuvee de Tomme from The Lost Abbey 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Blood red colour. Big aroma with lots of woody notes, hints of vinegar, dashes of fruit. Massive acidic flavour, deeply fruity (berries, cherries), woodiness...yeah I need more of this one.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Cuvee de Tomme from The Lost Abbey 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 10 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
2003 Silver Foil Sampled Feb ’05. Thanks to who else, Eyedrinkale.
Fantastic pour and aroma, all that you would expect from a top notch Flemish sour. Bright, yet deep, cherry-mahogany brown, hazy and thick, with highlights running the spectrum from light yellow to deep burgundy-brown. Small light beige colored head and an aroma that is near perfect in my books.
Fresh squeezed tart cherry juice mixes perfectly and stunningly with ample funky Brett notes. Sour oak hides in the background with a touch of candi sugar-like residual sweetness. Powerful and unrelenting, I can smell this small sample as strong as ever from the first sip to the last drop.
Flavor begins with tart Brett notes, sour and fruity, with plenty of acidity nipping at the palate. Cherries, light brown malts and a touch of earthy/wood-like notes. My only complaints come from the finish. Rastacouere calls it "sticky" but it is more than the mouthfeel that irks me. It has a bit of a stale or overly dry, nutty, lightly astringent (though not bitter, just bland and drying) note. My best guess would be that there was a large amount of yeast in my sample, as I do belive I got a pour from towards the end of the bottle. Won’t hold it against the beer as the rest is done spectacularly.
Perfect, light and tingly carbonation, with a soothing, oily texture. Instantly one of my new favorites. It’s like everything that is good about beer mixed with everything good about wine. 10/5/9/4/18
Black label bottle consumed on 7/3/2005. Fine bubbles create a lasting, light-tan head, quite dense and very large. Deep, deep mahogany colored body is well-unfiltered. Plenty of lacing coats the glass. Smells of oak, cherry, chocolate. Dry, lightly sharp oak tones challenge the nostrils. Light hints of brett in the background create a pleasing interest. Bits of balsamic vinegar in the nose as well. Flavor begins, up front, with a big complex burst of raspberries, cherries, chocolate liqueur and whiskey. Sharp and highly tannic. Mouthfeel has low, tingly carbonation with some wateriness. Quite acidic. Tastes like a hint of cabernet when chilled, but after it warms and breathes, the whiskey takes over in the nose and flavor, leaving a burning, acidic finish. Some alcohol and light cocoa beans, with light earth tones. Too much whiskey for me, though. I’ll gladly take the older vintages. 9/5/8/3/15
2003 Red Foil from the generous JCW Shared with SuIIy on 2/9/06. Pretty much pure perfection in a bottle. Hard yet simple to describe. Thick cherries, wonderfully balancing brett, vinegar, sweet chocolate malts, drying oak. Perfect mouthfeel, finely bubbled, tight carbonation, strong aroma, lacing, great retention on head, no alcohol apparency. Get where it’s going? 5.0
2013 draught at Publick House on 3/20/14
Tomme said he was happiest with this vintage of any since moving to the new brewery. Wish I could weigh in but I havent had it since they brewed it back at Pizza Port....Ha, just a mere 10 years ago....Anyways, this was still pretty fuckin phenomenal. Alcohol, prunes, cherries, brett acids and tons of malo-lactic notes join the lovely and perfectly done barrel character. Not sweet, of course, but with more malt structure and balance than framboise or red poppy. Incredibly complex and delicious and well-balanced between barrel, sourness, malt and with a very tight, engaging carbonation. Still a masterpiece, not that I expected any less.
omhper (44752) reviewed Cuvee de Tomme from The Lost Abbey 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
Bottled. Very dark brown. Rodenbach-like acidic, vinous, woody grape aroma. Full bodied with rounded mouthfeel. Like a St Lamvinus on steroids. Unusual and incedibly flavourful, yet elegant. Definitely not your everyday beer. The flavour could perhaps be even more complex, but I find this to be one most the most interesting beers I’ve had.
Sloefmans (15389) reviewed Cuvee de Tomme from The Lost Abbey 23 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 10
The colour is like old Liefmans kriek used to be: dark-red, trouble, deep. Nose of old cherries, fresh cherrypie, "boerejongens" (=krieken on jenever). Aromas of old oak, fruit - but cherries only because known - some liquorice, old slivovitch. Taste is sweet with fruit-sourish framing. Most of the flavours are relatively quickly gone, except for the "boerejongens" -taste which goes on and on. This is a world-beater, if ever I've tasted one.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
GABF 2002: Rich and strong aroma, like brandy and sherry, very winey. Sherry and Madeira flavors. Strong, fruity, plummy and raisiny. Strong, souring, alcoholic finish.