Oikein hyvä synttärilahja veljeltä.

En explosion av smaker! Något för fruktig för min smak men helt klart värd köpet.

Dark amber barrel aged Barley Wine with a purple hue and almost no foam head. Sweet and toasted aroma of barley, plums, dried fruits and Cognac barrels. Medium+ bodied so lighter than I expected. Taste of toasted malts and burnt caramel with dried fruits mixing with barrel aging tones. Red wine and Bourbon barrels take the lead and seem to build up more boozy tones as you go on. Strong and multilayered but also somehow unfinished. Was advertised to be smooth and very drinkable but at least I can’t agree on the drinkable. Slow sipping BA Barley Wine at least now. Seems that this could benefit from cellar maturation 🤔. Now I wish that I would have bought one or two to my cellar stash.

Nightcap. Should be a good one. Bottled on 10.2.2020 Temperature: +11,5 C Neat, deep amber color. The texture is thick, foam is ever-lasting, creamy layer. Gorgeous: 4,75/5 The aroma is fine, yes it is! Fruit cake with toasty hues comes at the first sniff. Then an Armagnac/Cognac like alcohol with an oak twist. At the back, darker, sugar-coated fruits with plum tones sticking out. The barrel dominates just a bit too much. But that could probably be mellowed down with some aging: 4,25/5 Mouthfeel is medium-full, warming, oaky with medium-low but noticeably carbonation and mild bitterness. Somewhat thinner than I expected: 3,75/5 Taste is a mixture of barrel aging notes, once again shades of Cognac and Armagnac that are mixing up with some fruity sweet flavors and maltiness. Every sip starts and finishes with those spirits and after a short while this is starting to get too boozy and heavy. Even as an (American) Barleywine, the alcoholic feel notes are too heavy and the overall sweet flavor isn't making this any more drinkable. Most likely needs to be age more: 10,75/15 One of the slowest sipping beers I've ever had. Too much alcohol flavor, although those flavors are quite elegant and tasty. This could be easily split between 2-3 people. As a beer, this shows plenty of everything. Strong beer all around. More bitterness would be nice as it feels relatively light right now. Hopefully, I can get to taste this again when it's older: 15,25/20 =38,75/50

Dark barley wine which has been barrel aged clean not heavy, has a date / current tone. Very nice to slip one cold evening.