Baladin Xyauyù Etichetta Rame (Copper Label)

Brewed by Le Baladin
Style: Barley Wine
Piozzo, Italy

Bottle, bought @ YNWA, Kolding.
Pours clear red brown with no head. Aroma has clear notes of port, it’s vinious with toffee, cherries and some cellar. Very low carbonation, almost flat - wonderfully oily. Flavour is sweet, vinious, reminds me a bit of Samuel Adams Utopias, actually. Toffee, port, raisins, light chocolate. Extremely elegant.

1pt 9oz bottle in ’eye catching’ packaging. Labeled, brewed in 2004. Poured a deep amber-brown color with a very small sized off white head. Aromas of fruits, cognac, bourbon, wood, and caramel. Tastes of toffee, brandy, vinous, brown sugar sweetness, cherris, plums, raisins, apples and pears. Sweet (I’d lick my lips a minute later and they were still very sweet). Lots of alcohol in the finish; definitely a sipper. Interesting, but I think I overpayed for this one (it cost me $40!).

The pour shows clear orange, flat and headless. Upon first sniff, whiffs of vegetal alcohol take over the nose, strongly woody and orangey. Huge fruitiness adds a truly sherryish nature in the form of concentrated pumpkins, melon and mango. The cask wood influence is neat, adding an oily, rich and meaty influence that is attenuated a bit by soy sauce hints. Sweet candi sugar is also hurt a bit by the vegetal saltiness. For 13% though, its alcohol is very well contained while the bitterness remains totally under control. Flat and slick bodied, very full. Interesting and original take, fully grainy and extracted, but not among my favourites. Thank you Lorenzo.

Bottle (2004)... Clear, dark amber ale with no head. Caramel, port wine nose which hints heavily at its high ABV. Vinous, dessert wine flavor with lots of caramel malt sweetness and only a trace of hops. Full-bodied and syrupy with no carbonation. Lengthy, sweet finish. Spendy, at around $40 per bottle. Not really my cup of tea, but a strange and interesting brew.

Bottle bronze label 2004 vintage: Pours a viscous oily transparent deep copper with a thin ring of off-white bubbles, but mostly still. Aroma of dense, sweet caramel malt with oxidized dark fruity raisin and brown sugar complexity. Body is rich and molten dark caramely sticky sweet with a nice balance of fruitiness, brown sugar, and alcoholic warmth. Well-aged and very complex with a smooth, yet rich finish.

2004 vintage, sampled 12/2007; thanks to Laurent Mousson again - clear reddish-amber colour, aroma of cognac, caramel and alcohol; candi sugar and pear; very sweet and without carbonation; thick and oily, late and solid bitterness; moderately dry, long caramelish and fruity finish - deeply original and impressive; far better than the experimental release

thanks to Laurent "SubCapt" Mousson for sharing this beer which he directly got from Theo; this beer has been madeirised by a long (1-2 years) exposition of the casks to the sun - red-brown colour, absolutely no foam; prodigiously complex nose (caramel, portwine, honey), very resinous and with an incredible sweetness, no carbonation; very long, glutinous and cloying sweetness before a big finishing alcohol kick and a lingering spiciness - very very special and original; to enjoy with lot of care (4/7/3/2/9)

2004 Vintage Near as no head; dark red chestnut beer. Very stimulating, nosevein-dilatating portwine or other fortified wine aroma, with exotic woods as sandelwood & cedar, chocolate, alcohol, fusels and fuselesters. Vinous, especially as exceptional vintage port. Very sweet, vinous, Marssala, and definitely again mild chocolate notes. Faraway hints of oranges, preserved in brandy, sucaded fruit, slowly oxydized and (if that were possible) esterised malts, with exotic spices seasoned. Viscous to syrupy, explosion of body & flavours at each sip, indestructible. It might miss just a tad of balance, defending itself from the ethanol onslaught, but it is a wonderful beer anyhow, something to be savoured slowly after dinner. Mille grazie, Lorenzo, for bringing me this bottle!

My Bottom Line:
Luxurious prunes and their caramel swell from this portly and still sipping experience, as sweet soy, raisins and cherries develop with time. This is very well done and has to be commended for efficiently extending the Barley Wine concept to realms rarely explored.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-There is no head at all atop the dark ruby brown.
-The body is liquorous but velvety smooth when served at the right temperature.
-Served cool at the Mondial, I found this to be quite harsh, overly sweet and alcoholic. But served at room temperature at Isola Della Birra, a classy beverage appeared, much like port wine or ice wine. (3.8) Next time I have it, it’ll definitely be at room temperature.
-Alcohol was not too perceptible at room temperature, which is quite a feat at this gravity.
-Don’t drink this when you want a "beer". A fireside strong sipper is what you should have a hankering for.

From the bottle at the Mondial de la Bière, Montréal, and Isola Della Birra, Milano.