Bottle shared in London - picked up in NYC. Been aging this a few years. Pours deep amber-brown with creamy, beige nose holds well toasted malts, dried fruits, some earth, raisins, cherry. Medium to heavy sweet flavour with lots of ripe berries, a little cola, fruitcake, toasted caramel, light earthy bitterness. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Warming finish with plenty of toasted sugars, more berries, toffee, some scorched earth. Not a ton of depth, but it drinks pretty good for its strength.

Poured from a 22 oz bottle. This is the 16% abv version. Aroma is rich and chocolate forward with some light dark caramel, toffee and burnt sugar. Light molasses and roast notes. Some light tobacco and leather notes. Light raisin and dark fruit notes. Some medium alcohol notes. Some light rye notes. Pours black with a medium sized, thick, dark mocha head that’s shows average retention as it recedes to the edges where a small film lingers. No lacing and fairly long legs. Flavor is fairly sweet and rich. Lots of chocolate but even more roast and molasses. Quite a bit of leather, ash and tobacco as well. Some light honey notes. Lots of raisin, plum, and prune. Medium alcohol notes. Medium high bitterness and a bit of astringency. Mouthfeel is medium full bodied with medium carbonation. Medium astringency and medium alcohol warmth. Overall, a decent beer. A great aroma, but the flavor is too bitter, ashy and astringent. The dark fruit helps, but it also clashes with the bitterness. Alcohol is very present, but it’s also not overpowering.

Bottle shared by Chris on 10/15/16.
Deep amber-auburn body is clear and topped by a thin, beige head.
Strong spiciness in the nose suggest there are still some hop acids floating around in here. Light citrus, pine and such balance the strong caramel-toffee maltiness. Lots of fruity esters, rye-like spiciness and fruitiness and actually somewhat reserved on the alcohol for its size.
Tastes like a barleywine. Yay. Clobbered with malt, bitterness and light alcohol, with lots of sugars lingering, big fruity notes from the nose and light caramel and vanilla notes lingering. You’d think these guys would have got sick of making these beers by now. Who do they think they are, Southern Tier?

Bottle shared by Chris on 10/15/16.
Deep "groovy" brown body has auburn-mahogany highlights and a quickly receding, off-white head. High clarity.
The acetic acid is strong in this one. Lots of cherry, raspberry, strawberry-like esters with light balsamic character and a vanilla-caramel maltiness that is seemingly fairly well-attenuated. Pretty aggressive, with some light alcohol heat/vapors and not much going on other than an assault of sour acids and light wood.
Very sour in the mouth with cherry-like notes, strong wood and lingering heavy acetic acid. Oaky, caramel-laden notes intensify the beer, as well, and it’s lightly boozey with too much sweetness on the end as well. Peppery carbonation and a slick texture. Well, if you love acetic acid....

Poured from a 22 oz bottle. Aroma is fairly malt forward, but slightly lighter than that of a stout. Lots of dark caramel and toffee with some light toasted bread and rye notes. Light chocolate, tobacco and leather. Hints of roast and molasses. Light alcohol spice. Medium light fruit notes of raisins, prunes and plums. Light oxidation in the form of sherry with some faint soy sauce and wet cardboard notes as well. Pours black with dark brown hues on the edges and a medium sized, fairly thick, mocha head that exhibits nice retention as it recedes to a thin film that lingers in the center and on the edges. No lacing and moderately long legs. Flavor is moderately sweet with moderately strong dark caramel, toffee and chocolate notes. Some lighter molasses and toasted bread. Lighter still, notes of tobacco and leather with some faint roast. Moderate fruit notes of raisins, prunes, plums and figs. Medium bitterness with medium alcohol spice. Light to moderate oxidation with sherry, soy sauce and wet cardboard; this is more prevalent than in the aroma. Mouthfeel is medium to medium full bodied with medium carbonation; its definitely on the thin side for a 15% beer. Low astringency and moderate alcohol warmth. Overall, an alright beer but its definitely showing oxidation. I’m surprised how well the alcohol is hidden for how thin the beer is. A pretty unexciting beer; nothing is really bad about it, but nothing excited me about it either.

Poured from a 22 oz bottle. Aroma is malt forward with lots of dark caramel, toffee and chocolate notes. Some burnt sugar, molasses, rye and light roast notes. Moderate dark fruit notes of raisins, plums, prunes and berry. A light meaty, soy sauce note of oxidation. Light alcohol notes. Pours black with dark brown hues on the edges and a medium sized, thick, mocha head that recedes quickly to a small, thin film that lingers in the center and on the edges. No lacing and medium small legs. Flavor is moderately sweet with some dark caramel and toffee notes. A medium light chocolate and rye character. Some toasted bread and a bit of a light roast note. Some light tobacco and leather. Medium bitterness. Moderate dark fruit notes of raisin, prune, plum and fig. Medium light oxidation with some soy sauce and wet cardboard. Some light alcohol notes. Mouthfeel is medium full bodied and somewhat slick with medium carbonation. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth. Overall, an alright beer, but it is definitely showing oxidation. Lots of malt character with balanced sweetness. The mouthfeel was a bit on the slick side.

Poured from a 22 oz bottle with a bottling date of 12/1/2010. Aroma is malt forward with lots of dark caramel and some toffee notes. Some lighter chocolate notes with some rye spice. Light bourbon notes with a bit of oak. Hints of alcohol spice. Light raisin, fig and prune notes. Pours black with dark brown hues and a medium sized, thick, light mocha head that recedes slowly, but steadily to the edges where it lingers on the edges. Moderately small lacing and medium small legs. Flavor is moderately sweet with some light rye notes, moderately strong caramel and toffee. Lighter chocolate and burnt sugar notes. Light bourbon notes with faint oak. Light roast and medium bitterness. Light alcohol spice. Light raisin, fig and prune notes. Mouthfeel is medium to medium full bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low, but present alcohol notes. Overall, a good beer but not a great one. A bit boring as well, but for the price and availability it was worth it. More fruit as it warms. A little more bourbon and malt complexity would be nice.