Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

100th Rating! 375 mL bottle (2009 release) purchased at the brewery on release day ($15). Pours a very dark brown with virtually no head. Aroma is fantastic: bourbon, wood, sweet malt, chocolate, vanilla, booze, maple syrup(?) -- it’s all very complex. Flavor features many of these same things, notably the bourbon / sweet booze and the dark chocolate. The reviewer below me describes it as "bourbon-drizzled chocolate cake" and I would have to agree. Yet its only mildly sweet which is good because over-sweetness would probably ruin this. The finish is full of bittersweet chocolate and alcohol, reminiscent of drinking whiskey or other spirits. An excellent beer. Glad I bought an extra bottle to age.

Thanks to ucusty. Bottle, 2008. Lovely, dessert-like aroma of nougat, toffee, bourbon-drizzled chocolate cake, very light, restrained oak. Flavor not quite as rich as the aroma had me desiring, but basically similar overall. Was so very different from the generic, sweet-malt-and-nothing-else barley wines that seem to comprise 95% of the style, and as a result, I quite liked it.

Bottle (2008 I think). Bottle a dark brown with a thick tan head. Aroma of cohcolate, roasted malt and bourbon. Flavor of sharp bourbon initially. Some buttery popcorn too. Hmm, I like the aroma but the flavor is too bourbony. Overall, ok but not great. 8/4/7/4/14 (3.7/5)

2009 bottle. Pours dark brown to black with a head that dissipates quickly. Bourbon and sweet burnt caramel aromas linger in the room. Some fig, maple, and oak in there as well. Mouthfeel is silky/syrupy very, very light carbonation but not entirely flat like the brandy. The alcohol is a little more noticable than I like, but still enjoyable. Flavors are like the aroma with a pronounced bourbon whisky flavor. Why can’t they just get some more carbonation in here and it would be a phenominal brew.

Bottle at the Cuvee de Castleton release at Captain Lawrence. This was a bottle of the 2008. Pours a clear black to brown without much of a head. Sweet bourbon on the nose, but no overpowering isopropyl component to it. Lots of sweet caramel and vanilla to it as well. Medium thick body, with more caramel, and vanilla coming through. My partner described it as tasting “like old coke”. Finishes with a touch of alcohol but barely a hint of what the true abv in this is. Very well done, and one of very few barleywines I’ve actually enjoyed.

First release bottle (EDIT: 2008) shared with a couple friends and courtesy of one of several possible people. Pours a murky brown, bright red edges, fairly hazy, with brown bubbly head, big at first, but dies to a film and clings a bit. Aromas are a nice sweet and toffee maltiness, oat and light dark fruit, bourbon vanilla and oak comes in fairly well, a bit sweet a bit boozy but overall very nice. Initial is fairly full, a bit sweet ad thick pushing caramel and toffee malts strong, light bitterness, bourbon pushes good alcohol, vanilla, and oak. Booze is hidden well, and mixes in with a good balancing bitterness on the backend, light dark fruit notes, and overall, a very pleasant experience. Cheers!

2008 750 bottle. pours dead, no head whatsoever. looks like a flat rootbeer, slightly transparent dark brown. lots of dark fruits in the nose and flavor. intense fig with sweet oak. overall very sweet and malty. vanilla in the nose. extremely complex flavor profile. nice pronounced oak. Definitely worth the $32 for the 750.

’09 375ml bottle courtesy of Smokepot23. Poured a dark brown with a orange-ish hue and no head. Aroma is strong bourbon and dark fruit, also present are notes of wood and vanilla. Medium bodied with a smooth mouthfeel and completely flat. Flavor took me a little by surprise, much more balanced and far less boozy then the nose led me to believe. Fairly sweet with lots of over-ripe fruit notes, hints of caramel, vanilla, and bourbon are also present. Finishes sweet bourbon with lots of warming alcohol. I think a little carbonation and this beer would be awesome. Very tasty brew!