1997 bottle (9/5/8/5/19), sampled in 2003. Pours a muddy caramel brown, with layers of dark chestnut and some black, some beige. Good solid creamy beige head. Aroma is wonderful, sharp aromatic apricots with some sugary spice as well. Started out at about 54 degrees, the beer begins with a truly unique flavor of. . .dirt? It is like when you fall in the dirt and get a mouthfeel, like that dirty soil taste. Surprisingly it wasnt bad, this transitions into a tremendous amount of warm malt flavor with some butterscotch appeal. Has a medium-full body, tending towards full. Finish begins with some alcohol and apricot flavors mixed together, along with some barley malt lingering. Ends with an exquisite caramel malt. As the beer warmed, towards 57-59 degrees, this dirty taste turned out to be the maturing alcohol flavor that was so poignant and concentrated it tasted almost mineralesque. As it softened and warmed, and the beer could breath, to my great delight, this turned into the most authentic caramel taste. Like fresh caramel that is not too sweet, and just perfect, i dont know how else to say it. Growing warm and fuzzy and then mixing with some more barley and slight scotch notes. Wow. This has aged gracefully to say the least. Make sure to let this one breath when you open it. The 97 is wonderful, and has got plenty more years of aging to do. Gotta get me some more to cellar. The best aged barley I have tried thus far, though the 97 Hardys needs far more aging than this one, so it is a bit unfair. 1996 bottle (7/5/7/3/15). Sampled 3/3/04. Same pour and color, but much weaker aroma than the 1997. Uh oh. As I guessed from the aroma, this one was thin and oxidized. Strange with the one year difference, but obviously the sitting in a warm, lit store for 8 years didnt do much for this bottle, whereas the 97 I tried had been refrigerated for quite a few years. Much thinner, not as much good caramel malt, nor am I able to distinguish the clean fruit flavors. Not that bad though, just too oxidized. 1996 again. Amazing. This bottle was still great, no traces of the heavily oxidized, watery palate that the last bottle had. Big, warm, sweet, lightly fruity with those lovely mineralesque flavors I love in this beer. Glad that the last bottle being bad was just a fluke.

2000 Bottle: This beer reminded me a lot of the 23%DFHWWS, even though the ABV is much lower in this 11.2oz bottle. This was probably my first corked Imperial Stout. Pours a black tar color with an ultra thin light beige head. No real lacing to speak of. Aroma will knock your socks off with licorice, chocolate and port wine. Full bodied flavor with a great roasted aspect. Flavors of malt, alcohol, spice and coffee come in wave after wave. This beer also has a very long and roasty burnt cedar finish. The only way to enjoy this beer is SLOWLY.

Elizabethan Ale looks like an apple cider and has the aroma of a good doppelbock, with a heavy prune scent. The flavor reflects an interesting mix of doppelbock and barleywine characteristics: prune and raisins dominate at first, followed by sugary malts. The body is syrupy and rich, thicker than the typical doppelbock but right in line with barleywines (unintentional rhyme). A very nice beverage, but I do recommend moderation: this is too syrupy sweet for session consumption.