Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
Bottle from the basement.
Inky black with a thin tan head that slowly dissipates. Sweet rich sticky chocolate roast with bits of Bourbon and warming. Sweet sticky caramel and an earthiness that reminds me of graham. Sipper for sure.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
27 February 2026. BCBS Tasting @ Stacks (Sint-Kruis). Cheers to Ward for hosting the event! Many thanks to Louis for generously sharing the bottles!
Cloudy black, no head. Intense bourbon, medicine, tobacco, espresso, teriyaki, black olive, pecan, liqueur-filled pralines, vanilla bean, oak. Sweet date, raisin & prune wrapped in a dark-chocolatey, pecan-nutty and dark fudge-like malt body with subtle umami teriyaki, some smoke and bitter coffee. Peppery hops in the finish, lingering bitter coffee, fondant, oaky vanilla and warming bourbon alcohol. Full body, thin, oily texture, soft carbonation. Has evidently aged (thinned by alcohol; umami, somewhat medicinal flavours) but this has only added layers of complexity to an already rounded base beer. Excellent!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
27 February 2026. BCBS Tasting @ Stacks (Sint-Kruis). Cheers to Ward for hosting the event!
Hazy black, no head. Aroma of (weirdly enough) kitty litter (thanks, dad, for pointing this one out!), ground almonds, artificial vanilla flavourings, cream, cookie dough, cheap chocolate, mocha, liqueur. Very sweet date & banana in a very thick milk-chocolatey, brownie-like and creamy malt body with cookie spices and ground nuts. Ends with herbal hops, spices & chocolate and warming chocolate liqueur-like alcohol rather than actual bourbon. Full body, oily texture, average carbonation. Decent decadent Stout by itself but in a BCBS tasting, it doesn't exceed the level of a typical commercial Pastry; for me this is Goose Island jumping the shark a bit.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
27 February 2026. BCBS Tasting @ Stacks (Sint-Kruis). Cheers to Ward for hosting the event!
Hazy black, no head. Intense bourbon, oak, vanilla bean, molten fondant, pralines, brownie, cinnamon. Very sweet fig, date & banana in a thick brownie- & fondant-like malt body, surrounded by vanilla, bitter mocha and some spices. Finishes with peppery hops, fondant, vanilla, vague allspice and warming (rye) bourbon alcohol. Full body, thick oily texture, average carbonation. Intense, also quite sweet but managing to blend with the spicy character.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
27 February 2026. BCBS Tasting @ Stacks (Sint-Kruis). Cheers to Ward for hosting the event!
Hazy black, very thin, beige head. Maple syrup, coffee bean, tobacco, fondant, brown bread, blue plum, bourbon. Sweet fig, vague sourish blackcurrant, coffee bean and dark-chocolatey, brown-bready maltiness. Herbal hops, lingering maple syrup, soft smoke, boozy bourbon alcohol. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. BCBS with a little twist, very good.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
27 February 2026. BCBS Tasting @ Stacks (Sint-Kruis). Cheers to Ward for hosting the event!
Hazy black, thin, beige head. Fennel, aniseed, liquorice root, chocolate sauce, dried fuge, salmiak. Sweetish fig & date; salty salmiak, spicy liquorice, sweet-salty fennel in a dark-chocolatey malt body. Peppery hops, lingering salty-umami salmiak, liquorice and chocolate, warming bourbon alcohol. Full body, creamy texture, average carbonation. Way too much fennel & aniseed here, distracting a bit from the main profile rather than adding value to it.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
27 February 2026. BCBS Tasting @ Stacks (Sint-Kruis). Cheers to Ward for hosting the event!
Clear dark brown, no head. Coffee bean, mocha biscuit, dried plum, fig, toffee, bourbon, brandy. Sweet raisin, fig & prune in a toasty & toffee-like malt body, some bitter mocha. Herbal hops in the finish, some earthy coffee, dried fruits and boozy bourbon alcohol. Medium to full body, oily texture, average carbonation. The structure is a bit looser here than in the regular barleywine, coffee adds earthiness but doesn't add much value. Feels like a light Stout. Then again, it's very hard to call this 'disappointing'.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
27 February 2026. BCBS Tasting @ Stacks (Sint-Kruis). Cheers to Ward for hosting the event!
Hazy dark brown, virtually no head. Candied date & fig, nougat, vanilla, bourbon, fruit cake, plum jam, rum-soaked raisin. Very sweet raisin, date & fig in a thick malt body of toffee, vanilla and brown sugar, lightly toasty as well, touch of coffee somewhere. Herbal hops in the finish, lots of dried fruits lingering, toffee and oaky vanilla with warming bourbon alcohol. Full body, oily-sticky texture, soft carbonation. Complex and elegant and surprisingly (dangerously) drinkable at this ABV.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
27 February 2026. BCBS Tasting @ Stacks (Sint-Kruis). Cheers to Ward for hosting the event!
Jet-black, no head. Intense bourbon, vanilla, molten fudge, oak, salmiak, espresso. Sweet date & dried fig, vanilla, thick dark-chocolatey malt body with creamy vanilla, touch of umami (salty salmiak). Peppery hops, very oaky, somewhat sharpish boozy bourbon alcohol but still supported by the maltiness. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. On the sharp side, but it does lend a slightly deeper bourbon complexity. Very good.
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8.5
Dark brown. No head. There's a nice rich umami note on the nose, a touch of cherry, with lots of dark bitter chocolate. Similar palate. The cognac hits in the finish, bringing a bit of fruitiness and dry vinous character. Dry, complex, nice malt richness. This is excellent.