Old Chimneys Good King Henry Special Reserve

Brewed by Old Chimneys
Style: Imperial Stout
Diss, England

12 oz bottle at Toncatcher’s house, shared with Padrefan, Fordest and a few others. Provided by Dennis. Pours a dark brown color with almost no head. The aroma is strong with spiced malts, anise and dates. The flavor is lively with lots of sweet fruits, licorice, and wood. The finish is long and sweet. The mouthfeel is full and smooth. Overall: A very tasty ale. But not sure if this one might have been mishandled at some point on its long trip to our table. Its taste might have been just a bit off.

RB third birthday toast/bottle conjured from a cardboard box at the brewery, brewed 14/11/06. Those in the know have got to ask. Pitch silk with an audacious Caramac head, dripping tan lace that has no right to be there in an 11% tulip. Huge single malt ice cream sweetness aroma of smothering oak, top drawer Metaxa and fudge. Fat bulbous shot of oak humming narcotically with Neopolitan ice cream, aniseed, charcoally black milk, oak chip milkshake, peat and face-warming pleasure. DO YOU LIKE WHISKEY? Forget those new-fangled hops as a preservative, aromatic or bittering ingredient. Less alcohol than a 3% mild shandy. I’m not making this up. It really does piss all over some of the bludgeoning sugar, alcohol and hop-dominated ‘big’ beers out there, and it’s great to see everyone’s getting it. If you make it out to the brewery the guy who brews this is a diamond (who wants to stay coal), defiantly anti-commercial, apparently oblivious to the fuss surrounding his uncommonly delicious, world-beating beers, and wrings miracles out of a space no bigger or more elaborately equipped than a typical household kitchen or garage. One of the best around, certainly in England, though not as balanced or complex as the bog standard King Henry. Hugely sweet, and the oak is a bit OTT for me (just chips by the way). Still, an outrageous hallucinatory motherfucker of a beer from first sip to last, and a match for any English beer or Earth spirit I’ve yet tasted. I want to buy as many bottles of this as I can and give them all away to the people I like. Especially the ones who think they don’t like beer. Good one.

2006 bottle thanks to Daknole. Viscous black with barely a head. Ink and prune aromas. Smooth body, inky palate. Fruity acids. Flavors include ash and licorice, lead and salt. Super smooth excellent compelling beer.

DLD 2009, with thanks to cgarvieuk for a taste of the 2006 vintage: It pours out a thick dark brown, turning black in the glass and capped with a slim brown head. The aroma was almost barleywine in tone - sweet and fruity, rich with dark malt, spicey with aniseed, woody. Very smooth and warm on the tongue. The flavor had considerable alcohol to it, but blended nicely with the dark malt sweetness. It finished on a hot & sticky note, as does many a pleasurable experience.

2006 Vintage

4/25/2009: Good King Henry Special Reserve pours out thick and black with a brown-colored head. The flavor is sweet, sticky, and malty with a smooth and mellow cask-like texture. Dark aged fruits and rich chocolate meld together seemlessly with just a touch of vanilla and a splash of whisky. This is a great beer.

Sample from bottle shared by cgarvieuk at Dark Lord Day 2009. Thank you so much for sharing Craig! Rating #120 for this beer.

Very dark black. Flat. Liquorice, some alcohol. Light spice accents. Fruity (orange, pear). Rich inky malts - the finest tamari. Has a fresh juiciness. Very few impys have that. Unique character, lots of silk dark malts and that vibrant finish is brilliant.

2006 Bottle from Craig. Thanks! Black pour wtih barely any head at all. Aroma is great. Chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, raisins, prunes, and toffee on the nose. Wow, then the flavor...amazing. Vanilla, bourbon, raisins, prunes, dates, brown sugar, oak, and a hint of Columbian coffee. Wow what a beer!!!!

Bottle,this poured a black with a dark brown head and was very sweet and had a chocolate finish to it but was a little thin in the end.CHEERS!