Southampton Cuvee des Fleurs

Bottle. Deep amber in color with a nice fluffy white head. Very malty floral aroma. Coriander notes. Flavor is floral and spicey not hoppy. Dry tart flavor and very drinkable. Finish is sweet. Full mouthfeel. Smooth. Enjoyable. Very nice.

2005 bottle. Copper pour with a beautiful, humongous rocky head, up there in the Duvel ranks. Lots of floral notes hinted in the aroma, but they really shine in the taste. It is brilliantly flowerly without being overbearing like Fantome Pissenlit (dandelions), and lets other saison flavors come through, including great spiciness and a nice maltiness.

750ml, 2005 cork and wire. Bought it, cellared it for 3 days, fridged it for 45 minutes. Poured with a whole lot of head, really a beautiful, great head. Color was copper-orange, could see shapes through it, lots of visible bubbles shooting in it. The aroma is really terrific. Take your regular Saison, mute it a bit and add a floral (not hoppy) aroma akin to muted roses (without the artificial perfume). Similar in taste, one may find a saison too extreme and this brew mutes it a bit and adds a rose-like sweetness. Mouthfeel is nice as well, not zingy yet lively. This really is my favorite saison so far. Very different from the regulars in its category.9/4/8/3/17

Rerate: 2007 bottle. The young version is so far on a different level. Aroma is buttery and very over the top spicy. Mouthfeel is overly carbonated and has an astringent grassy flavor. There is some idea of the flowers but the beauty of this beer has yet to come to fruition. However, the yeasty part of the bottle contains the seeds of what this beer will become. The mouthfeel dies down, a bit more sweetness comes in and some of the floral notes appear. I am convinced this will become great in a year but until then I have no need to drink it. Original score represents what this beer really is as opposed to the fresh bottle. Served at Bobbiques, 750ml cork&wire, Westmalle large goblet glass. 7/3/7/3/14.

Bottle: Dark straw, or a very dirty golden, thick and hazy, huge fluffy off-white head, with fairly nice lacing.   Sediment is also visible in the glass.   HUGE bouquet of flowers and spices... probably one of the most floral oriented beers I have had.   WOW!   Very reminiscent of pansies.   Dry tart like flavor, sugary sweetness, with a large assortment of flowers and spices.   Very unique indeed.   Not as dry nor tart as others, but moreso sweet and flowery.   Big in body, huge flavors, moderate spritzy mouthfeel.   This really is a work of art.   Great stuff.   Thanks Jeff for the bottle!

2005 bottle, courtesy of tpkenned.
Cork pulls off and here we go! Translucent and sometimes mostly cloudy pale copper in color with a copiously foamy head, booming with white froth and not going anywhere. Blanketing, coating lace like no other. Delicate bakery ambitions aromatically abound with yeasty breakfast bread, lightly complimented by soft lilies of the valley, honey suckle, vanilla-nectar buttercream, stale white cackled pepper and honeycomb. Quite unique. Some fruit loops even come in at the very end as I enjoy the dregs. Flavor is in full pursuit of happiness. Garden allegories abound. Dandelions, daffodils and flower saturated pollen give a waxy, margarine-like flavor and coating. Coriander and honeyed baguettes. Nectar dripping off the sampling stick, raised up high and catching germinated flower seeds as it’s held amidst a late springtime breeze. Champagne-like effervescence, sticky, cohesive and thickly streaming in. There’s a mild brut quality to it as well. Lilacs, stephanotis and coriander create a smooth honeyed current in its recession. Quite a treat.

’05 bottle. straw golden color, clear. lots of fizz up the center. tall fluffy white head. puffs of clingy lacing ledges. aroma is malty sweet like honey and cookies, floral like salad flowers, and spicy like white pepper with yeast. flavor is much like the aroma, which is nice! flowery malt, sweetish and tangy. the spicyness is more like candied/crystalized ginger. pretty high carbonation that kicks up the spicyness. dryish finish/aftertaste.

DL Day,Hampton tasting. Very light yellow but hazy. Nose was like standing in a field of dandlions.Nice but after tasting it I was thinking about dandelion wine instead. Some sourness to it but also seems a bit lost.

2004 bottle sampled at Dark Lord Day - Pours golden with a big head. It has a fine aroma of citrus and flowers. It tastes kind of sour and spicey. The hops in the flavor are really interesting and balanced. It’s bubbly on the tongue, yet rather smooth going down. The dry finish was slightly off to me. Overall it’s a very tastey brew.