I've made my choice, and beer 100 goes to Rochefort! Upon pouring (at room temperature), notes of banana were apparent in the aroma. Deeper inhalation yielded raisin, cherry, and alcohol. Pours dark brown (much like a dark apple cider), with a dense, thick tan head of tiny bubbles. Upon first sip, I was surprised by the inviting mouthfeel lent to this beer by the tight carbonation. Flavors include raisins, cherries, toffee, cider, and a hint of chocolate, all balanced against nicely warming alcohol notes. Hops notes are unsurprisingly light. Overall, a very well-balanced, sweet, malty palate. The tart, warming aftertaste says "go ahead, take another sip," and is not cloying or annoying. Overall mouthfeel is full without feeling viscous. Rich, complex, warming, and smooth, this one belongs on my "elixir" list, which includes such brews as Celebrator Doppelbock, Bells Expedition, Double Cream, and Kalamazoo Stouts, and Stone Old Guardian Barleywine. Thanks to those ratebeerians who made the suggestion!

2024-08-28, bb 14 03 06, 23 years old, 6-4-6-3-12=31
Drinking this one side to side with an equally old Westvleteren 8. Soft mouthfeel, lowly carbonated; light caramel flavour and not much more. More than oxidation damage, here there has been a numbing of character. Very close to the Westvleteren 8, just a bit softer.

2023-08-27, , bb 21 11 06, 22 years old, 7-4-7-3-15=36
Mellow, caramel, some spirit, rum, marzipan; not very oxidized, but the lack of bitterness means lack of balance. There's some leather.

2016-11-23, bb 140306, 15 years old, 6-4-7-3-13=33
Lively carbonation. The aroma is more footy, like some true salame, rather than cardboardy. The body is not too thin, as some sugars are still present, but the flavor lacks of depth, there is just some simple caramel, and the total lack of bitterness accentuates that; the alcohol feeling is evident; somehow it developed a mild metallic trait.
Still, for a 15 years old beer it's much better than expected.

2016-07-14, bb 071216, 5 years old, 6-4-6-2-12=30
Highly carbonated, huge head; as a result, the body is very thin, already visible while pouring; tired malts flavor, and an oxidisation level that I would quantify as "50%".
Too old, nothing like it should be when at its best.

2013-02-19,L 220715, 2½ years old, 8-4-8-3-16=39
Clear dark mahogany color with generous frothy head, well carbonated. Nice aroma of caramel with a earthy (soil) touch, light spices, very light yeast. Soft mouthfeel, the body starts to thin; very good malt and caramel flavor, with light nuttiness, low bitterness, and comforting alcohol feeling. In the final there is some rare sweetness, a fine spicy touch, and a shade of oxidization.
Mature, very good.

2013-02-12, L 060606, 11½ years old, 7-4-7-3-15=36
Chestnut color, with small sized head, not as compact. Mild aroma, caramel and light honey. Lean body, with some caramel flavor, very low residual sweetness, almost absent bitterness, some alcohol, very light fruity touch.
Apparently the last sugars have been fermented; it's a simple version of the original beer, still pleasant and with just minimal signs of Madeirization.
Should be drank with the yeast deposit that increases the mouthfeel and provides very light final astringency (one point extra).

2011-08-30, L 100215 10:17, 1½ years old, 8-5-7-4-15=39
The aroma is almost cheesy, with brown sugar, caramel. The body is lean; there is caramel flavor, with moderate sweetness, and light liquorice impression; apparently it's not mature enough. Low bitterness, and light alcohol perception too. Lacking of depth.

2011-05-03, L 220715 10:38, 1 year old, 7-4-7-3-14=35
It's overly carbonated, it pours a gigantic head. Initially there is some yeast smell; later followed by the expected caramel. Having lost most of the carbonation, the mouthfeel is quite soft, but the body is thinner than expected; good flavor, some malt and caramel, maybe with too much accent on the oxidization; traces of liquorice. The bitterness is already quite low, and the final is rather weak. Good Belgian, but nothing special (yet).

2011-02-25, L 200912 10:30, 4 years old, 8-5-8-3-16=40
Very dark brown color; generous head, reducing to a thinner layer, compact and persistent. The aroma is unusually spicy, peppery, with some malt and caramel, and Chinotto (a special citrus fruit from Liguria). The mouthfeel is very smooth (because of the initial high carbonation), then round (a bit later); there is a good flavor of malt and caramel, with clear spicy side; correct bitterness. It seems to get thinner and a bit drier in the end. Good, but it could be better.

2011-01-08, L 060606, 10 years old, 7-4-6-3-12=32
Dark chestnut color; small sized head. The aroma of caramel is nice and quite perfumy. The mouthfeel is quite dry and with an evident alcohol presence; the body is thin; flavor of dry caramel and some liquorice; light oxidisation. Correct bitterness. Too old.

2003-05-08, 8-5-9-4-17=43
Dark amber color. Aroma of malt, bread, candi sugar, lightly fruity (strawberries). Malty, not really viscous, a delicate but evident liquorice taste at the mid-end, alcohol touch. Good but not astonishing palate. I don't know exactly why, but I expected more…
Improves a lot when pouring the sediment.

Finally able to taste this beer! I hope to make this rating as informative as possible, but this is obviously one of the top beers people are willing to try. I bought and tried the Westy 12 because it was ranked so highly...and I recommend it to everyone I see, it is still the best beer i've ever had. So, with that said, here is the review for the Rochefort Trappistes 10. First things first, the temperature of the beer is 63 degrees Farenheit. Dark black colour with a slight tan head and zillions of small bubbles rising up on the side of the glass...very neat looking. The beer is almost completely opaque and even as you stretch it at the sides, no light shows through. Smells of ripe dark fruits, such as raisins and black currants dominate the aroma. Malt and chocolate also show through in the nose, but very minutely. A very complex smelling beer, which definately leaves your mouth ready to taste the beer. And the taste? Complex at first...but almost exactly the same as the smell. Hints of chocolate and malt undermine the taste, while ripe fruits dominate the flavour of the beer. Plums, Raisins and even cherries are in the taste. A very malty beer with that being a definate character of the overall taste and palate. The aftertaste leaves you wanting to taste it again, to see what other flavours and characters you can find in the beer, and this one always keeps you guessing. A very complex beer, both in the smell and in the taste, but done very well. Some hop character, but definately malt overwhelmed. The alcohol is somewhat noticable, but not in a bad way at all. A great texture in the mouth...very carbonated, yet coats the inside of the mouth and the tongue very well. I poured this very slowly down the sides of the goblet until a major amount of sediment came out, then I stopped the pour with probably only 5 to 10 millilitres of liquid left in the bottle. After a few sips, the sweet characters shine through in the aftertaste: chocolate (the major player), roasted flavours, ripe fruits all team up very well to make it a pleasant aftertaste. Due only to personal preference, I believe that the Westy 12 is more of a 'perfect' beer, but that could be only because I like hoppy, lighter, less-malty beers more, but this is still one of the best beers i've ever had. On a quick side note, the inital flavour I had in my mouth after tasting the first sip reminded me very much of the 'meatyness' of the Sam Adams Triple Bock (which I HATED), but those memories quickly faded with the good characters of this beer. If someone asked me what the best beer i've ever had was, I would still say: Westy 12, but this one ranks very close to that. I bought this bottle at Beers of the World in Rochester, New York and the price was $10 I believe. Definately worth a try, especially if you want to sample some of the best beers in the entire world!!!

Thanks to Darkover for the trade. This wasn't quite as good as the "10" but still a very good beer. Pours a pretty dark reddish-brown with a very thick and foamy beige head. Aroma of chocolate, cherry, malt and cloves. Smooth-drinking, with flavors of banana, malt, sherry and chocolate all vying for attention. Great finish, if a little carbonated toward the end for my tastes. All in all another fine effort from Rochefort.

Beautiful dark colour. Pleasing aroma. Unfortunately I burned my tongue this morning, but I still enjoy the very complex flavour.

Looks pretty much identical to the 10, deep ruby color. The smell is yeasty, sweat and fruity. There are a lot of subtle notes in the flavor - apples, chocolate, grapes, raisins. This has very well-masked alcohol. Slightly different from the 10, but, in my opinion, just as good.

I had to save something special for number 100, and this was it. But I must say I was a bit disappointed (though not much). This has a great appearance - dark, brownish-red with a nice lacing. The aroma is full of chocolate and plums. The taste is very vinous, with raisins and dates, and a slight maltiness. The flavors weren't as full as I was expecting, but the soft, dry finish was somewhat pleasing. The fullness in the body just didn't seem present in this, but the alcohol was decently masked. It is good, but I was hoping to give this a still higher rating based on the hype. I actually think Abbaye des Rocs Grand Cru is better than this.