De Dolle Stille Nacht Reserva 2000

Formerly brewed at De Dolle Brouwers
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Diksmuide, Belgium

Bottle @ Kulminator, Antwerp, December 2004. Pours a golden amber color with a small off-white head. Aroma is vinous with some hints of dark fruits and some spicy hints. Flavor of dark fruits, raisins. Very vinous with hints of wood. Smooth mouthfeel with a warming vinous finish. Very nice.

Huge thanks to egajdzis for sharing not only this but also the 2005 version side by side! Do you want to take my 1st born - seriously, I can use the sleep! Pourd a medium amber color with a small sized off white head. Quite a vinous and complex aroma. Red wine giving way to grapes, light yeast, vanilla, wood, plums, and raisins. I could smell this one all night. Tastes of red wine, grape skins, brown sugar, vanilla, light wood, dark fruits, and I was getting a light cookie doughiness. Vinous all the way around. Alcohol content well hidden. As good as this was, it continued to grow on me as I drank and smelled it leaving me wanting more.

Courtesy of Tom Peiters at Monk’s Cafe, thanks Tom! Vibrant aroma of candied fruits, white pepper, vintage port blended with moscato, yeast, licorice and vanilla. Also subtle hints of raisins, incredibly sweet malts, dry hickory, the bottling floor at Domaine De La Romanee Conti. Taste is utterly magnificent. Honey, icing from an oreo ice cream cake, spicy relleno and pear/apricot jellies. Also lingering tastes of bread, anise, molasses, candy sugar. Sourness is as pleasant as I’ve found in an aged Belgian. Finish is absolutely monstrous, ten miles long, holding my palate hostage without a ransom in sight. So complex, so worth the wait, so fun to drink, so fun to watch the look of disgust on my girlfriend’s face when she tries it. Kick ass.

750ml - one of only 1920 bottles produced and aged in Saint Julien Bordeaux casks, thereafter bottled in 2002. Heady aroma fills the nose with a rich, sugary, honeyish malt sweetness, various tangy, tropical and citrus fruits including pineapple, white grape, orange and juicy green apple, along with some earthy, lightly dusty, woody and herbal tones, dried flowers, a slightly musty and estery yeast presence and a certain peppery alcoholic spiciness, all atop a lightly vinous backdrop that does give betray some notion of the aging vessel and the impetus behind the idea. Gorgeous deep rosy amber color, slightly hazy, with coppery highlights and a lasting, fine, creamy head accompanied by some fairly intricate lacing. Flavor profile is equally complex and satisfyingly powerful, with suggestions of candied pears, golden raisin and apricot jam, followed by a light amount of spicy bitterness and warming alcohol, finishing with a degree of drying acidity, a blend of peppery spices and some lingering, fairly strong winey touches here and there. Silky smooth and lightly sticky on the palate with a hugely full body to support the gratifying palette of flavors found here. Many thanks to Murph who supplied me with this particular bottle back in the summer of 2003. This has been cellared since that time and of course, had been annually in danger of being consumed, however after tasting it certainly seems able to endure a far longer slumber.

Bottle: Pale gold, nice head and lacing. Nose of plum, cherry, dry port, sweet malts. The flavor is fucking nice and balanced. Subtley sweet and salty/woody with an herbalness and fruity sweet grape taste. Finishes with some honey notes and a tasty cake on the side. Like the richness of Jadwiga. Tons of the good umami in this. I like that the clean bordeaux notes have faded into something completely different over time.

From a 750mL Bottle. Pours an elegant golden amber with a subtle fire tinge and an even layer of white head. This beer has everything going on in the aroma - light fruits, dark fruits, spice, vinous character, it just goes on and on. The first thing to grab my attention are the succulent figs and prunes that decorate the bouquet. Thoughts of a fine barleywine float through my head before fleeting, being replaced with a distinctly Belgian layer of cinnimony yeasty spice. Soft, ripened pears and sugary muscat grapes also float gently to my nose, blending artistically with the dark fruity spice. Rich, full body - lightly syrupy, but at the same time well carbonated mouthfeel. This is a big beer that hasn’t lost any balance or succumbed to the effects of age. More fruits flood my tongue. I continue to be amazed how hoards of figs, prunes, raisins, peaches, apricots, caramel, and spice can coexist together so beautifully. Each taste is savored carefully, revealing more new fruit sensations before culminating in a subtly woody, majestic finish. This beer is one of those gems that is truly worth all the praise it receives. Big thanks to Chris for giving me the chance to try this fabulous beer.

lotsa fruits, barly and hops. filled with yeast , slightly sticky on the tongue, nice but didn’t feel it lived up to the hype i have read about

(Bottle at Akkurat, stockholm) Pours hazy golden/amber/red. Dried fruits, cherry chocolate, some clove, red berries, sweet barley and much more in aroma. Slight acid, sticky but smooth mouthfeel with some alcohol. Dried peaches and lots of red berries. Some marzipan and wood. Very sweet with salty notes.Finish with a white wine-like dryness. Full, lovely body.