Sweet and syrupy nose on this black pour. It is an interesting brew. Sweet, barley, you really taste the grain and oat.

’03 vintage at Hard Liver 2006. Deep garnet color with a tan head. Boozy caramel malt spicy nose. Thick body. Fairly complex taste here with a roastyness similar to a Brown/Porter and a spicy, vinous and pit fruit bittersweetness which meshed nicely. This is why we age our Barley Wines !

Pacific Northwest Vacation 2007

8/21/2007: Winthrop Tombstone Barley Wine 2002 (!) is very dark brown in color with a very thin beige head. This beer smells more like port than beer. The aroma is extremely malty and is loaded with prune, plum, and vintage red wine characteristics. The flavor is extremely complex and contains nuances of cherry, chocolate, caramelized malts, and char. This beer has a medium-full to full body and is extremely smooth. It is also creamy and mellow on the palate. Amazingly, there is absolutely no alcohol detectable in the flavor and there is no alcohol burn despite the 14% ABV that is artfully hidden in this bad boy! This is quite simply an awesome beer! Overall this was one of, if not THE best beers that I had on the entire trip!

Draught sample (14% ABV) at the Winthrop Brewing Company in Winthrop, Washington. Rating #4 for this beer...

2003 Vintage - Pours a murky dark brown, the aroma, is full of dark fruits, plums , dates and raisins, with just a bit of prune juice. Flavor is thick and syrupy, not overly hoppy, but has an amazingly complex malt character. This just keeps getting better and better with every sip.

Tap at the 2006 Hard Liver Festival. 2003 vintage. Very dark brown beer. Sweet plummy pruny aroma along with some sweet brown sugar. Chewy sweet malts, bready and toasty with some soft chocolatey flavour as well. Flavour of plums/prunes, sweet toast, sweet chocolate. Actually a pretty tasty brew.