Baladin Xyauyù Etichetta Rame (Copper Label)

Brewed by Le Baladin
Style: Barley Wine
Piozzo, Italy

Bottle shared by Marcus. Really appreciated. Brilliant ruby copper color with no head. Aromas of fruit, tobacco and leather. It’s got floaties! [small ones] Then the aroma goes towards plums. Now I can imagine chocolate. Super full bodied. Hardly any carbonation. Flavor is medium sweet, and then confusing: mapley? dates? Chocolate? And there’s a lot more. This is what SA’s Tripple Bock should hae been. It’s wonderful. Just gets better and better.

Bottle, at White Horse Babbelfest, August 2005. Red bronze, no head and minimal condition. Woody sherry sweetness and potent alcohol in the nose, soft and alcoholic in the mouth with sherry sweet syrupy maltiness and a touch of oak, long warming alcoholic finish with a lingering sticky sweet sherry note.

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!

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!).

Pours tawny w/ just a few soapy bubbles rising then quickly goes flat. Aromas of granny smith apples, chewy caramel and slight fresh roasted peanuts. Interesting to say the least. Full nectar w/ no effers at all. Still as night. This brew possesses a viscous and lucious texture. Extremely malty and sweet w/ an abundance of complexities to keep me very busy indeed. I am shocked that this is actually beer. It profiles like a fine tawny porto. Big caramel and honey comb flavors accentuated w/ nuts, graham cracker, honey, molasses, melon, peaches, plums, wild apple, and a hint of chocolate covered mint. An angel food cake character emerges after a little warming. Theres a mild acidic component that just barely scratches the surface. This is a desert beer all the way. The finish is long and sweet w/ no bittering. I am left w/ a sweet nutty flavor to linger. Alcohol is well hidden. Overall: thick, lucious, and sweet w/ a very complex flavor profile akin to a tawny port. This is as rare as it gets. Alot goes into this brew so I was expecting alot out of it. I must say it’s not what I expected but I am pleasantly surprised. Share this with a friend during the holidays.

Bottle Pours out a copper with some red highs, no head on this one. Aroma was very nice pit fruit with plenty sweetness. Tast was very nice aswell. Sweet caramel with more of the fruit. Very tast and easy to go down. I think this is the best brew I have had from Italy yet.

Sample, savoured at the Mondial de la bière on May 30 2008; eye: cognac, no effervescence, clear; nose: caramel, liqueur, sweet; mouth: caramel, liqueur-like finale is caramel, medium body, mildly sweet, lightly bitter; overall: quite good FRANÇAIS Échantillon, savourée au Mondial de la bière le 30 mai 2008; oeil : cognac, pas d’effervescence, claire; nez : caramel, liqueur, sucré; bouche : caramel, finale liquoreuse caramélisé, corps moyen, moyennement sucrée, légèrement amère

Beautiful looking bottle. I agree with the last reviewer, the smell was very much like Grand Marnier, or some other liquer. Very sparse carbonation, but for some reason, it seemed right. Flavor was ultra sweet, with lots of dark fruits, spices and some oak in the end. Flavor is almost Sherry-like. Very much a sipper, but very tasty.