Bottle 72 of 180. Popped with John(Wetherel) and the guys at the bottle shop. For some reason I thought this one was going to be a let down. All of these super rare hard to get beers have just been a let down when I open them. Wow did this one not go that way. The second I popped the cap I knew this was going to blow me away. Super sweet bourbon and chocolate wafted from the bottle. I have not even poured this yet. Pours a dark brown with a nice off white 1 finger head. The label says unfiltered and this one has the nice cloudy look to prove it. The nose on this is insane. Perfect balance of bourbon, caramel, chocolate, light fig, plum, candy sugar, brown sugar, cookie dough, light roasted malt . Good lord is there anything that smells better then this? The only thing that comes close was the first batch of bourbon angels share on cask. I am afraid to taste this. As I taste this everything I smelled is right there in the taste. Oh my lord. I am like a kid in a candy store. So complex with not one flavor being over the top. 10 weeks in a barrel was just perfect for this one. One of the few barrel aged beers that you can walk through the flavors and enjoy everyone of them one by one then allow them to blend back together and be just perfect. As John said as this one warmed up it started to get even better. The carbonation was perfect and dialed in. I would have to say that if this was available on a larger share this would take out Angels Share and many others. These guys hit a homerun with this! One of the best beers I have had in the last 3 years.

Bottle generously opened by Tim at the PP bottle shop. Tasted with Tim, Ryan and Sean. Huge, huge thanks Tim for letting me try this tasty treat. Looks like I’m the first rating for this (hopefully not the last, since there are only 180 bottles). They need to brew a ton more of this. A rival to Angels Share. Bottle #72/180. Bottled in 3/2/2007, tasted 4/29/08, so there a nice amount of bottle aging as well. Tasted side-by-side against the un barrel aged. Clearly this is much better. The un-barrel aged I give the same rating of 3.9, that I rated when I tried it early. The barrel aged beast I give a 4.9. It is wonderful what a little barrel and bottle aging will do to a barleywine. Pours a thick dark amber color with more head than the un barrel aged. Why is that? Lots of buttery caramelized oak aromas. Sweet, soft, mellow texture. Bourbon barrel aged, but NO over the top bourbon burn, thank you, which reduces drinkability. The perfect aroma gets even better as the beer warms up. Very easy to drink, as I sample, and sample, and sample again. Yum. Would love to do a side-by-side with the Angel’s Shares and BA Old Numbskull. I think this would win in a blind test, even though it might score the same as Angel’s Share.