 kmweaver (1948), Takoma Park, Maryland, USA
Dec 30, 2006
2004 bottle #81/227, courtesy of gears81. Thanks, Jake!! Pours a clear, oily, reddish-amber appearance; minimal head formation, leaving a trail of off-white bubbles at the perimeter. Generous, sweet-bourbon nose: very boozy, with hints of raisins and brown sugar, along with a minimal sour-mash tartness. Layer upon layer of flavor: bourbon, hints of wood and oak, maple syrup and vanilla; like the most gentle, warming bourbon one could hope for. It’s almost hard to recognize the regular Old Numbskull underneath this, but i hardly miss it here. Lengthy, layered, vanilla bourbon finish: sweet and toasty.
Old_Mr_Crow (1004), Seattle, Washington, USA
Aug 16, 2008 Bottle brought to after4ever’s tasting. Rating from old notes.
Toffee and vanilla aroma, close to the Drake’s bourbon barrel barleywine but drier. Toffee, bits of oxidized hops, lots of wood, gentle vanilla. Beautiful. So good, in fact, that I turned down a shot at as-yet untried Dark Lord in order to get a second bottle of this. I’m looking forward to it!
sersdf (859), chicago, Illinois, USA
Aug 14, 2008 thanks andrew. this was awesome. as always with alesmith, the balance and craft was impeccable. the barrels were very subtle and perfectly incorporated. nutty, honeyed, and fruity. better than the already-amazing numbskull.
nhorween (502), New York, New York, USA
Aug 13, 2008 thanks cmubeerman. Reminds me of a slightly less balanced Old Salty. Complex (it’s AleSmith) with great smoke, chocolate and nuttiness to balance out the fruity and woody notes.
Marsiblursi (1378), Göteborg, Sweden
Aug 8, 2008 (Bottle thanks to WeeHeavySD) The first pour was deep and glowing copper to light blood red with absolutely no head while the second pour was opaque orange to brown with a lot of yeast. The aroma is fat and alcohol warming from the bourbon oak with tones of butter, wood, vanilla, coconut, peppermint, toffee and whiskey. Malt and hops bring tones of caramel, toffee, syrup, chocolate, resin and limey citrus. Fruity and berry-like with tones of cherries, prunes, figs, ripe mango, pineapple, banana and canned cocktail fruits like cherries, pears and peaches. Undertones of parsley, dill, shellfish and corn. The flavour is medium to heavily malty sweet, light to medium bitter with a fat oak blanket alongside a nice alcohol warmth. Tones of vanilla, coconut, butter, bourbon, rum raisins, resin, sweet citrus, caramel, toffee, fudge, honey, pine apple, mango, honey melon, parsley and dill. The mouthfeel is full, round, sticky with a biting numbness from the hops and the alcohol. Almost no carbonation. The finish is ultra long with tones of honey, buttery bourbon and alcohol. Full bodied. The oak is strong in this one, just a bit over perfect.
Theis (2018), Frederiksberg, Denmark
Aug 7, 2008 Bottle (Thanks Puzzl) at Sune’s sommerhus. Clear nutbrown - offwhite head. Nutty, oak, vanilla, light sharpness, nice hoppy, raisins, berries, red berries, toffee, caramel, chocolate.... and a lot more - fantastic - but not as good as Sune’s BarleyWine
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