Batch 6 bottle at the brewery, 11/29/24. Deep, blood/cherry red. Clear. As deep, fruity, cinnamon-laced and funky as the Statement is heady, floral and airy. Beautiful intensity and focus with a sweaty spice and charming funk that slowly gives way to more easygoing and intense, meaty, juicy, classic cherry character. In the mouth it has all sorts of cinnamon, pepper, long dried cherry acidity and a medium-full body with excellent richness and intensity, yet still balancing acidity and reasonable attenuation. Just like The Statement, I love it's all-in focus on doing intensely what it does.

Batch 11 bottle at the brewery, 11/29/24. Deep currant-black cherry. Clear. Bright, maybe not as sweet and intense on the honey side as expected with a surprising levity from bright fruit juice and acid. Lovely blend with cherry leading the way. Black pepper, vanilla and lingering medium amounts of honey intensity. No alcohol. Very focused, high clarity nose. Surprisingly not dense in the mouth, or at least not densely honeyed. The fruit is there in droves. But maybe a blend of fruits is a little less interesting to me than I realized, as I found myself being more captivated by the single varietal stuff. Of course this is still no slouch and I'm pleasantly surprised it's not a syrupy sugar bomb. Imagine being disappointed by this due only to the just unreal-high expectations and hype.

Bottle at the brewery, 11/29/24. Dark sunflower/peanut oil colored. Touch of glassiness. Nose is wildly complex, aromatic, rich. Earth, mineral, rustic dried hay and floral notes with a touch of caramelized sugar. No alcohol. Could go on picking complexities out of this ad infinitum. Similar complexities in flavor with a rich, chewy, deep-textured body that is sweet up front but perfectly balanced by acidity on the finish. Bit of caramelized notes, vanilla, and as many possible interesting, rustic, floral and spicy complexities as one can imagine. Unbelievable stuff.

Bottle at the brewery, 11/29/24. Lighter blood-red with violet notes. Clear. Rich, buttery, earthy nose with a hint of brightening mintiness in the very end. Softens and opens with breathing, to a deeper, richer, acid-dotted red raspberry. No alcohol noted. Intense aromatics. In the mouth it's more fruity than expected. Rich, enveloping and juicy with a gentle sweetness and ling, rich honey and fruit acidity intertwined. Lovely stuff, tasting neither quite like raspberry or blackberry.

Bottle at the brewery, 11/29/24. Clear blonde-brass-golden. Nose has a beautifully balanced blend of spicy citrus notes from the honey, balancing juicy, spicy ginger and easygoing cranberry. No alcohol, rich not sweet. In the mouth it's medium-bodied, with rich, chewy honey mixing with flavorful, spicy and balancing acidity from fruit and root. Refreshingly balanced yet flavorful and rich. No alcohol noted.

Pours golden. Scent is full on honey, funky. Taste is full, powdered sugar, honey. Very natural. Milder than expected funk. Way more enjoyable than anticipated, as I'm usually not the biggest fan of honey-varietal base mead's. This one, however....