Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

Truly a great beer. Have had this a number of times and figured I ought to actually put in a review. Pours a thick, dark brown with a 2 finger tan head that is creamy and never fully dies (that, and the bottles really are over carbonated). Smells of vanilla infused bourbon, sweet caramel/toffee and some funky dried fruits/dates. Nice. The taste is quite similar to the smell. There is a healthy dose of vanilla bourbon that, while strong, lends itself nicely to this beer. The caramel/toffee sweetness is most definitely there in the form of a massive malt body to back up that bourbon (nice to see this after having had many bourbon beers where the malts just can’t stand up to the bourbon). The alcohol is present, no question, most likely from the bourbon aging. This, however, is not an impediment with this beer. Dates and other similar candied fruit sort of flavors also float around in the background. Some oak presence. This beer just hits all the right spots. Mouthfeel is very rich, overly carbonated at first (give it some time to settle and it is much more divine) and satisfying. While this is a sipper for sure, I am always sad once my glass hits empty with a beer like this. As such, I cannot rate the drinkability any less than excellent. Highly recommended. This is still a favorite beer of mine. With that said, here is how I rank the current Angel’s Share editions: 06 Bourbon > 06 Brandy > 07 Bourbon > 07 Brandy. 06 Bourbon was on tap for the Toronado BW fest and blew most everything else away. The other 3 I’ve had side by side a couple of times, and the ranking seems to stay the same.

Bottle from early 2008 release. Dark brown / black pour with light brown head. Aroma is woody, nice bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, and light roast. The flavor is the same, very intense; sweet malt and vanilla / bourbon dominate. Enjoyed it.

Pours a dark dark brown wiith a large tan head. Aroma of dark fruit, vanilla, wood, and alcohol. Nice sweetness, good stuff.

thanx to Gumby for sharing this.Poured a nice dark brown color with a small, lacing khaki head. The nose was sweet, with dark fruits,whiskey and some chocolate. Flavor was great. Vanilla, darkfruits, and some woodiness.The balnce was great.Nothing dominating, you can taste and feel it all.A slight warming going down.Thanx Mike.

Wow this girl is really coming along nicely. First couple were a bit harsh, but smooth and tasty now. Great bourbon kick to a nice tasting barleywine. Burnt wood smokey sweetness, vanilla all compounded into this little 375 vessel of liquid delicousness.

C&C 375ml bottle. Thanks to kmweaver for sharing! Deep brown with a huge beige head. Sweet, malty bourbony nose, woody and raisiny. Flavor mirrors the nose. The bourbon really works here, enhancing the flavor rather than killing it. Nice!

Poured into champagne flutes. Brown color with a lively head. The flutes focused the aroma up and out of the glass in an explosion of vanilla, oak and whiskey. Taste is of molasses, malt, bourbon and vanilla. I catch a taste of other dark fruits. Excellenty Barleywine.

On tap, poured by Tomme. Aroma is amazingly good with lots of oxidized sherry qualities, vanilla and chocolate. Can’t stop smelling it. Taste is very oxidized compared to the bottle of Brandy Barrel I had a couple of months ago. Still very good and rich with plenty of dark fruits and spices. Syrupy mouthfeel with light carbonation rounds out this amazingly complex beer.