33 cl bottle at La Abadía, Madrid, served in a high-stemmed tasting glass. A dark brown pour with reddish highlights below a thick, inches-high, rocky, off-grayish head. Aroma is coffee, mulberry, blackberry, bilberry, cola gummy. Taste is dry, very crisp, medium-bodied. Finish is way bitterer than I expected, but the acidity controls it and renders it balanced. New tinges of espresso and cocoa in the long-lasting aftertaste. Nice.

Not quite as wowing as I expected. I'll save my other bottle for a year or two. Still, nice, bright, pleasantly tart, very vinous.

I had samples of this particular vintage of Stille Nacht Special Reserva before and rated it on this site under its general entry, but, as one barrique indeed turned out quite different from the other, I thought it may be useful to separately rate this particular one. This rating therefore uniquely and specifically concerns the bottles marked ‘Barrique 6’ on the crown cap; for a general rating of this beer without specified Barrique, see the general entry. Snow white, medium thick, moussey head lacing in shreds over a misty, warm peach blonde beer with gold-ochre glow. Rich and fruity aroma of ripe peach, sweet white grapes, vanilla-breathing oak wood, dessert wine, fermenting apple juice, sweet cicely, oranges soaked in madera, marmalade somewhere, apricot jam, brandy, brioche bread, hints of white port, pineapple and Stilton. Sweet onset with thin tart edge, utterly fruity, filled with impressions of ripe pear, white grape, pineapple and yellow kiwi, moderately carbonated with very round, full, vinous mouthfeel; lovely brioche- and biscuit-like ‘fluffy’ malt sweetness with some honeyish sweetness on top but also continuously that balancing, dry wine-like sourness, all cumulating into a ‘grand finale’ of lively, colourful, yellow-orange fruitiness, vanilla-flavouring oak wood, almost white port-like vinosity and soft herbal hops for bitterness. Absolutely beautiful creation standing above whichever other barrique I tasted before from this year – this one actually brings me back to the earliest editions, which were international masterpieces of brewing art one after another. Worthy of a very serious score if you ask me.

From backlog. Taster , from Bottle, at Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2024. Reddish/ amber with white head. Malts, hops, yeast, barrel, spicy, sour.

25/V/24 - 33cl bottle @ board game night, ElManana+1’s place, BB: n/a (2024-347) Thanks to ElManana+1 for sharing the bottle!

Clear to little cloudy orange blond beer, big aery irregular off-white head, unstable, pretty adhesive. Aroma: pretty floral, a little fruity, apples, some almonds, apricots, a bit oxidized, ripe banana. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: some alcohol up front, pretty sourish, fruity, peaches, apricots, more acidic touch, a little bitter, some tannins. Aftertaste: red wine, fruity, a little oxidized, dry, woody, tannins, bitter, more alcohol, good acidity.

750ml bottle shared with Patrick & Jos in Brugge, Belgium. A hazy amber/orange coloured pour with a very thin off white head on top. Sweet, boozy, malty, yeasty, caramel aroma. Tastes sweet, malty, sherry, yeasty, caramel, some dark fruit. This has held up incredibly well, believe it was cellared in a bar somewhere in Aalst.

Bottle. Pours a hazy orange gold with small white head that lasts. The aroma is bread, fruity malt, booze. Slick body, bready malt, sweet fruit, hides alcohol well, enjoyed this.

330 ml bottle. Pours a dull mahogany color with light head. Aromas of old wet wood, fruity esters, mashed stoned fruit, spicy marzipan and toasted malts. Flavors of peach, soft vinous wood, a little caramel, a little golden raisins and bready malts. Wonderfully complex and fruity.