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Is an abbey ale a Belgian ale? Is it a dubbel? What should I expect from it? This has been barrel aged, so will the fruity flavors get lost in the woods? Is brandy going to impart something that bourbon wouldn't? These are the complicated questions that go through my mind before I remember that I don't need to know the history of a car to enjoy its engine sound or know the nanometer chip design of a processor to know it is faster than my last one.
The very dark ale is distinctly brown. Like, this is a Pantone shade that they would just say "brown" to. No "chestnut shell" or "mud dobber" here. This is just brown, and I'm cool with that. The head doesn't exist, and that's what a barrel-aged beer is going to bring you, so you can't fault it for that. The aroma is a fantastic kind of wine-brown liquor mix with wood and fruits just around the outside. I want to dive in and drink my way out.
First sip is really sweet up front with dark fruits, orange, and cocoa nibs. Then the back of it gets a bit dry with a squirt of seltzer, orange, and oak. The alcohol is pervasive, but the relative low (for a barrel beer) ABV of 11.4% is making sure this doesn't become too much too quickly. The wood really lasts on the tongue for quite a while after the beverage is gone, and I like that the dryness doesn't stay for too long.
Tip-in is cocoa smeared on wood with wine having been dashed against it. The middle is not nearly as bold as the beginning, and it waters out quite a bit; nevertheless, wood and fruits manage to give some of themselves to the task. The finish is where the flavors are almost jumbled as they slap together as best they can before sorting themselves out for a woody-wine trail off.
Bottom Line: I really wanted this to be more.
2.75/5
