Subsidiaries
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 7.5
2006 vintage poured out of its 8.5oz bottle as a slightly hazy brownish orange with thin tan head. The aroma is big with figs, dates, plums and raisins as well as a hint of olive brine. There’s a nice caramel candy note to go along with sweet chocolate and alcohol. Wow, tons of flavor that rides very deep into the after taste. At first there’s a shot of olive followed by classic dark fruitiness from figs, plums, sugar sweet cherries and raisins. Then a silky smooth and tasty caramel candy, toffee and hint of chocolate take over and seem to go on forever. A bit of olive re-joins the show into the finish and after taste. I’d love to try one of these with much more age.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Dec 2007
at 18:43
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Pours dark reddish brown with no head. Maeira like with dried fruits and spices in the finnish. Chocolate notes as well. Unbalanced with the alcohol to present. Great cellaring potential.
Tried
on 29 Nov 2007
at 15:41
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
cask Aberdeen Beer festival 07 ... Copper colour ... sweet malt nose ... sweet fruity malt with decent fruit balance.
Tried
from Cask
on 25 Nov 2007
at 11:06
5.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
0.5L bottle. Murky orange colour, dominant floral hoppy aromas with just a touch of malt and yeast. Taste is citrusy with strong hoppy bitternes. Finish is dry and quite short. Quite easy to drink but also bland and one dimensional.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Nov 2007
at 01:51
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Cask @ Charlies Bar, Copenhagen. Pours a dark brown almost black color with a longlasting tan head. Roasted malty aroma with some hints of chocolate and licorice. Sweet roasted malty fruity flavor with some hints of chocolate and hops. Malty roasted chocolate finish.
Tried
from Cask
on 14 Nov 2007
at 02:06
6.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
[i] Cask at the Penny Black JDW, Bicester, 11-11-07 [/i] Poured very nearly black in colour but there were some ruby glints and the tiniest of off white heads. Some lovely liqourice flavours though quite sweet shoppie’, and finishing with a little bitterness and nice stout, not sure that it was a particularly good example of the style though.
Tried
from Cask
on 11 Nov 2007
at 13:41
6.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle. Pours a hazy copper color with a small off-white head. Sweet malty hoppy citrus aroma with some caramel hints. Sweet malty hoppy flavor with hints of citrus and caramel. Long bitter finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Nov 2007
at 16:14
8.4/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
2004 vintage sampled at my homebrew club meeting, 2 Nov., ’07. First time at this mysterious legend. A big smell even from my small sample. Raisins, plums, brown sugar and honey. Earthy smell at the end. Taste is a little sour at the start. High alcohol content gives it a sherry-type dryness. Still some notable hop taste, too. I’ll have a fuller report when I crack open my own 2003 and 2004 bottles at either my retirement or my son’s 21st birthday.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Nov 2007
at 10:00
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
2004 bottle - In honor of my imminent departure for London and elsewhere in western Europe, I just had my bottle of Thomas Hardy’s Ale. It pours murky dark brown. There’s no head, but it definitely has legs. The aroma is a lovely malt and dark fruit with some mild alcohol. The flavor is sweet and strong with lots of malt, oak, and dark fruit. There’s just the slightest touch of carbonation in this almost syrupy beer. It’s certainly a good brew and will likely get better if aged a few more years so it’s not quite so overpowering.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Oct 2007
at 21:11
4.9/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 4
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
0.5L bottle. Murky dark brown colour. Some roasted malt aroma. Flavour is suprisingly quite dry with some coffee notes. Carbonation is a bit to strong. Finish is so dry that it drys your throat. I was desparetly trying to find what is the added value of the ruby port to this stout, but unfortunatly could not find anything . A huge dissapointement, just like England losing the rugby world cup.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Oct 2007
at 16:28