Zuidam Millstone 2009, 7yo, Rye, 52.7% – OB for The Whisky Exchange

Posted on 2 December 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The Whisky Exchange have a knack for finding some good casks in distilleries that aren’t that common to find in shops like The Whisky Exchange. They seem to have a preference for Zuidam’s Millstone too, since this is already the second single cask they’ve bottled.

The first one was an amazing 10 year old that I bottle shared and reviewed little over a year ago. Now it is time for it’s younger brother at seven years old. Also a rye whisky, which I don’t find surprising since even Americans seem to love the stuff they put out!

Of course, a 10 centiliter sample (which was all I had) is gone quickly and this one was gone in a single night. But that’s just getting ahead of myself.

Sniff:
The nose is a tad sharp and spirity, but it’s young and it’s not in a bad way. Quite some oak, with some grains and spices. I would have expected this to be a bit sharper than it actuall is.

Sip:
The palate is sharp and quite fierce, which suits the style. Spirit, crushed black pepper, sweet spices with some sponge cake. Rye grains and quite some richness.

Swallow:
The finish is very consistent with the palate, so grains and spices, with some oaky notes too. Slightly sweet and spirity, and not overly long.

Well, the 10 year old from 2015 was better. Which is not to say this isn’t good, but the 10 year old had a bit more to offer than this one. This is a fairly simple whisky with straight forward and honest flavours and scents. I do love this. It’s a spicy whisky, much like some of the more spicy American rye whiskies, but without the expected sweetness that sometimes overpowers those.

Mind, it’s still sweet but the wood and spices add some bitter notes which creates a nice balance between those flavors. It is a dry and quite young whisky though. But, after all is said and done I am considering getting myself a bottle. It’s very good, and quite affordable.

87/100

Zuidam Millstone 2009 Rye, The Whisky Exchange Exclusive, 52.7%. Available for 55 quid.

Posted in - Rye Whiskey, - World Whisky, Millstone, Zuidam | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Irish Single Malt, 1988-2015, 26yo, 50.7% – The Perfect Dram

Posted on 25 November 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The Perfect Dram is a quite presumptiously named brand from The Whisky Agency. The experience is that it’s not necessarily untrue since they use some of their best casks, and The Whisky Agency itself is already a cracking bottler.

This whisky came out sometime last year, when Irish single malts ranging from their early 20s to some 26 or 27 years old were popping up everywhere. They have been hugely popular (Trump would say ‘yuuuuuuge’), but not all of them. Somehow The Whisky Exchange had one of their own bottlings available for a year or so, and they are not a bottler to scoff at either.

Anyway, maybe they’re more popular on the continent than on the British isles. Here, if you want one of those 20-something year olds you have to be F5-ing the website when it comes out.

I got a sample of this one somehow, probably from Teun van Wel, but I’m not entirely sure. I should write that shit down, but I’m a lazy mofo.

Image from Whiskybase

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
The typical, slightly chemical sweetness of winegums and winegum bags (the plastic ones) is here. Pear drops too. Very sweet with some oaky notes.

Sip:
On the palate it’s enormously sweet too. There’s some salmiak too and dryness, oak and pepper (both black and red). But, mostly it’s all very, very sweet like it was on the nose.

Swallow:
The finish too is dry and sweet, albeit a tad less sweet than it was before. Some grassy notes and winegums. Quite long.

As you might have guessed from the review, I’m not a huge fan of this whisky. I find it far too sweet, with those chemical notes of winegum and peardrop. There are some other notes but all of them are inferior to the sweetness. Apparently though, I am one of the few people around that doesn’t like this one since the Whiskybase review after 41 votes is over 91 points!

85/100

Irish Single Malt, 1988-2015, 26yo, 50.7%, The Perfect Dram. Available on Whiskybase for 400 euros as we speak.

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Glen Elgin 1991-2007, 16yo, 46% – Cooper’s Choice

Posted on 23 November 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Somehow I have never owned a bottle of Glen Elgin. I think I’ve just never been able to find one that suited me, since I generally like their bourbon cask whiskies. They tend to be slightly green and grassy but with a typical ‘Highland spiciness’ to it.

This one is from a sherry cask, although you wouldn’t directly say so by looking at the color. Bottled almost a decade ago (2007 is almost a decade ago. Let that sink in). Bottled at 46% it’s most likely not going to a scorcher.

What’s more interesting is that this is bottled by Cooper’s Choice. Cooper’s Choice is a bottler that has been around for a while, but have always been rather quiet about their business. That is, until last year or so when they started pushing some high end whiskies at high end prices. Since then I’ve seen them pop up in shops more and more often, in a completely redesigned bottle. I find it interesting that these things happen.

Sniff:
Initially it’s quite sweet, but it becomes a bit sharper with a bit of airing. Also a bit less smooth. Spices and sherry on the nose, with roasted barley and cinnamon. After that is goes a bit more smooth again with scents of banana, and a bit of a milky, buttery aroma. Also dates, and something more light, like a grain whisky.

Image from Whiskybase

Image from Whiskybase

Sip:
The palate is peppery and sharp, with a rich sweetness. Puff pastry, sugar and baked apple. Some cinnamon when it becomes dryer.

Swallow:
A dry finish with spices and baked apple (appelflappen) with cinnamon and raisins. Quite long.

It’s a bit of weird one, this. Every part of tasting this gives some nice scents and flavors, so in that regard it’s quite good. It is, however, incredibly inconsistent with the sherry notes and more typical notes of Glen Elgin (dry spiciness) being all over the place.

So, yeah, it’s a nice whisky for drinking, but not so good for reviewing. Methinks. Still, not bad though.

86/100

Glen Elgin 1991-2007, 16yo, Sherry Cask 6009, 46%, Cooper’s Choice

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Port Ellen1982-2010, 27yo, 55.5% – Old Bothwell

Posted on 21 November 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A week without a new post has gone by, and I’ve decided to catch up on some notes I’ve written ages ago. The first ones I came across in my little booklet were these of an early eighties Port Ellen (yes, there is no other part of the eighties for Port Ellen).

Generally speaking the eighties Port Ellens are a bit less interesting than the late seventies ones. Luckily, there are exceptions. I’ve been lucky enough to pick one of these up a few years ago from Berry’s, and I’m hoping this one joins those ranks.

Image from Whiskybase

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
The nose on this quite strong whisky is very gentle. Intense, but smooth with smoke. Rich with quite some oak, soft leather. A bit like suede and shammy leather. Autumn leaves, the wet and dying kind. Slightly spicy and a touch of lemon.

Sip:
The palate is sharper, and dryer. Some oak and only a little bit of smoke. Dry leather and leaves. Oak, black pepper. It’s not a very easy whisky and it demands attention. And it’s right to do so at almost 700 bucks a pop.

Swallow:
The finish suddenly is what I call a quintessential old Islay whisky. Light smoke with hints of barley and slightly tangy fruit. Notes of oak and spices too.

In short: Yup! This one works!

Slightly longer: While it builds somewhat into the palate, the balance of this wee dram is great. The spices and fruit, with oak, smoke and barley works very well. The typical Port Ellen flavors of shammy leather and sweet lemon are present too, although not as prominent as in some other bottlings.

92/100

Port Ellen1982-2010, 27yo, cask 2558, 55.5%, Old Bothwell. Expect to pay between 600 and 700 in auction.

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Longrow 2001-2015, 13yo, Chardonnay Cask, 56.7% – Springbank Society

Posted on 15 November 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I’ve been a member for the Springbank Society for about seven or eight years now, and while I did miss out on some bottles, most of them have found their way to my shelf.

Most of them have also been good whiskies, with a variety of casks being used and maturation ranging from eight years, to fifteen and over. Generally the whiskies aren’t very old, but when you know current prices of older bottlings, that might be a good thing.

When this came out I was a tad skeptical, since I generally don’t care much for wine cask usage. Even though the Longrow Red series have been quite acceptable, a chardonnay cask is something else entirely.

Luckily, I thought of this bottle when looking for something to open during last summer’s Blog Birthday Bash, so it actually gets reviewed at a reasonable time after its release. It’s only been a year or so!

Image from Whiskybase

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
There’s a whiff of sweet smoke with a slight salty edge. Some basalt and/or slate as well, and white grapes. A slightly buttery note is behind this all, which makes it a bit funky. A small acidic note makes this a Longrow with a rather ‘regular’ base but with some weird edges.

Sip:
The palate is sharp and rough, again with the acidic note. The basalt notes are present, as is the salt. There’s a sugary sweetness with a hint of unripe grapes. Buttery again too, so rather consistent.

Swallow:
The finish is very consistent with the rest of the ‘experience’, but is maybe a little bit more grainy. Quite funky again.

Well, let’s cut through the bullshit. I don’t like this whisky. A shame, since the last couple of Longrows I had from the Society were fairly epic. This one has such a strange combination of flavors that it doesn’t work for me. What also doesn’t help is that the flavors in themselves aren’t very nice either.

Funkyness in itself can be great, but not in combination with either butter of acidity, and both are here in ample supply. Bummer.

Oh, by the way, the generaly reception during the Blog Birthday Bash was timid, at best.

70/100

Longrow 2001-2015, 13yo, 7 years in a Bourbon cask, 6 years in a Chardonnay Cask, 56.7%, Springbank Society

Posted in Longrow | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

White Horse, OB,1960s, no ABV

Posted on 9 November 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

This sample comes from Jon Beach (of Fiddler’s fame), from a 6 liter bottle. Jon opened it during this year’s Feis Ile and sold samples for the Beatson Cancer Unit in Glasgow. A nice gesture if there ever was one, especially since he sold 10cl samples of this liquid gold for only 20 quid.

Obviously I had to get myself one and have been thoroughly enjoying it for a while. It’s gone now, and has been for a while but I just realized this morning that I hadn’t put up my review yet.

A 1960s blend with a good proportion of Islay whisky in it. Serge thinks there must be Malt Mill in here, and there might be. We’ll most likely never know for sure. Nor do I really care, since what I care about in this case is how good this wee dram tastes!

Sniff:
There’s a touch of Old Bottle Effect (OBE) at first, but it’s quickly replaced with a very creamy aroma. Oak, cinnamon and ‘Zeeuwse Bolus‘. It’s very rich, with hints of toasted barley like in a stout beer.

Sip:
The palate is rich and has a bit of bite to it. It’s smooth and sweet like cotton candy and marshmallows. Again, the Zeeuwse Bolus so caramelized sugar and a touch of baked lemon zest. Lots of barley and some oak, slightly fatty.

Swallow:
The finish is slightly warming, with fatty popcorn and some sugary sweetness. Marshmallows, cinnamon, oak and barley.

It’s funny how Serge’s tasting notes are so vastly different then mine, but I also know that we have hugely different references and palates. What he does agree on with me is that this is an awesome whisky and should be appealing to beer drinkers as well as whisky drinkers.

Unlike in some modern stouts (more on that in a later post) there’s not too much of the candy (marshmallow, popcorn and cotton candy) happening to overpower any of the other flavors and it makes for a very well balanced and ridiculously tasty dram.

It truly tastes old and the gentle, fatty smoke (which I didn’t even mention before) work very well together and are so vastly different than today’s Islay whiskies. Highly, highly recommended.

92/100

Posted in - Blended Whisky | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Laphroaig 1996-2016, 20yo, PX Sherry Butt, 50.6% – Masterpieces

Posted on 7 November 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Every year for The Whisky Exchange’s The Whisky Show, the guys at Speciality Drinks *1 bottle a cask for their Masterpieces range. This range consists of whiskies that the bottlers deem especially worthy of being called Masterpieces. In the past there have been at least a Clynelish and a Caol Ila that were awesome. Unfortunately, I missed out on last year’s Bruichladdich, but this year I wanted a sample of the Laphroaig. A 20 year old at that!

Unfortunately, oldish Islay whisky is hugely popular, and unless you are the Scotch Malt Whisky Society or Cadenhead’s, you don’t have many casks and must purchase them at current cost. This makes bottling casks like this a pricy endeavour and results in a £ 200 price tag.

“Luckily”, it wasn’t at some other bottlers who ask a lot more for a whisky like this.

A 20 year old Laphroaig matured in a PX sherry cask must be good, so I was quite anxious to sit down and try it when a peaceful moment arose. This does not happen often with two little brats at home and an endless to-do list.

Sniff:
Initially there’s a lot of soft sherry notes, but with a sharp, peaty edge to them. Dried fruits, but also wet rope, iodine and salt. Some milk chocolate and hay as well.

Sip:
The palate is quite sharp for a whisky at just over 50% ABV. It’s also rich and full, with lots of smoke and peat. Hay and wet wool, iodine, rope. Very maritime. It’s very dry with some peaches and prunes later on. Quite luxurious.

Swallow:
The finish has a tiny hint of coffee at first, but that’s quickly pushed to the background by fruit, hay, smoke and iodine. It’s still rich and slightly less dry, with quite some oak.

It’s been over a month since I reviewed an Islay whisky, and apart from a single glass of Ardbeg at a friend’s last weekend it’s been about as long since I actually had one. Now I did, and this is the kind of Islay whisky that makes you absolutely adore the island.

Sherry and peat works miracles if done well, and this is done well. It’s still quite sharp and dry, because of peat and smoke and the dryness of the sherry cask, but there’s a lot of depth and richness to balance that. A very, very good whisky.

90/100

Laphroaig 1996-2016, 20yo, Pedro Ximénez Sherry Butt 516, 50.6%, Masterpieces bottled for The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show 2016.

*1: To us normal punters The Whisky Exchange and Speciality Drinks are virtually the same companies.

Posted in Laphroaig | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tomatin 2004-2016, 11yo, 60% – OB for the Usquebaugh Society

Posted on 5 November 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

As always our club bottled a cask of whisky earlier this year. 40 members gathered in Abcoude, near Amsterdam, to participate in a tasting hosted by Scott Adamson of Tomatin Distillery. He guided us through the tasting of four different cask samples, of which the general consensus was that everybody would be happy with either one of them except one.

The whisky was drawn from cask 35281, and as Scott told us a cask number of five digits indicates a finishing cask. In this case the first seven years of maturation were done in a refill bourbon cask, after which the whisky was transferred to a 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel for the last four years.

Unfortunately for the club, but lucky for everybody else, it’s still available!

Image from Whiskybase

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
The nose starts off with a light vanilla scent. Not only the vanilla is light but the other aromas are too. Oak, some spices and a hint of pepper. Some herbs with a quite green background. Very strong with lots of alcohol. The light spirit of Tomatin with a lot of bourbon cask.

Sip:
The palate is really sharp too, so there’s room for a drop of water, or some long airing. It’s dry with fresh oak and apple. Some dried leafy herbs. A hint of vanilla and sweet caramel towards the end.

Swallow:
The finish is somewhat lighter on the bourbon cask, so slightly more spirity. Dry with herbs, apple and a tiny hint of bitterness towards the end. There’s some vanilla present too.

What I really like about this cask is that it’s clearly a bourbon cask, but it’s not just vanilla on the palate. There’s enough of Tomatin’s spirit left to make this far less generic than some whiskies out there. The combination of apples and dried herbs is quite nice, and the green-ness is also kept in check.

All in all, I find this a very enjoyable dram. It’s not the most complex whisky, but it’s well balanced, and there’s enough different flavors and scents to keep you busy. I think we picked this one well.

86/100

Tomatin 2004-2016, 11yo, First Fill Bourbon Barrel 35281, 60%, OB for the Usquebaugh Society. It’s still available for 68 euros here.

Posted in Tomatin | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Autumn clearance

Posted on 3 November 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Well, not really a clearance since that would involve big discounts.

The misses and I have decided that it’s finally time to start doing some construction on our attic. It’s been in the pipeline for a few years but we’ve decided to bite the bullet this winter.

We’ve already started packing stuff and over the last year and a bit we’ve already gotten rid of a lot of books, excess furniture, outdated and surplus toys and lots of other things. Now, the biggest block of taken-up space is my whisky collection (and our camping gear…).

Of course, doing insulation, flooring, actually making rooms in there and a lot of plumbing take some money and my liquid savings account was something that caught our respective eyes.

So, I’ve been going over my list for about a hundred times and I decided what can and cannot go. I might add more over the coming weeks if/when I decide that ‘I want to have a sip of that one’ is not a good enough reason to keep an entire bottle sitting in the attic for another decade or so. The result of this browsing and rebrowsing is the following list of bottles that I’ll be trying to get rid of. The list is here too.

If you’re interested in any of them, leave a comment, contact me on Facebook or Twitter, or send me an email.

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Beers of October

Posted on 1 November 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Here I was thinking that October would be a bit more quiet than September. A festival, a visit to a brewery and some get-togethers with beer-drinking-friends could hardly be topped in a month without too many plans, right?

Wrong. The get-togethers were there, and while I didn’t go to a festival or a brewery, I did go to some pubs and was away for a weekend with an amazing beer shop within a mile.

So, another long list with 55 unique beers (still slightly fewer beers than last month). Some I had some years ago but aren’t on the blog yet.

The fun thing about staying up late and alone and drinking awesome beers is that you get to contemplate drinking awesome beers a bit. I thought about some breweries that I find awesome and of which I more or less try to try everything. Also, there have been some additions to that list. BrewDog was already on there, as was Struise, Jopen, Windswept, Loch Ness (which is now out of business, unfortunately) and the Wild Beer Co.

By now I think I’ve added Buxton, Põhjala and new kid on the block De Moersleutel. What I also figured out that while Belgium, The Netherlands and America have great beer scenes, most of my favorite beers and breweries are from the United Kingdom. That was also the badge I maxed out first on Untappd. Apparently I love English beer (no surprise there).

Lastly, before the long list kicks off, October is Bock beer season in The Netherlands and I generally don’t like the style, I tried quiet a few.

Bock beers

  • IJsbok Hout (2016) by SNAB
    An oak aged bock beer from sort-of local brewers which comes in a rather fancy bottle. The beer itself I found slightly underwhelming. A craft beer, with some oak aging should bring some big flavors, and this was slightly more thin than I thought it would be.
  • Dubbelbock 2016 by Brouwerij ‘t IJ
    This is a big one in regards of ABV and has a slightly smoked flavor. Much bigger flavors than the previous one. Quite nice.
  • Heimdall Imperial Rye Bock by Walhalla Craft Beer
    I didn’t really pick up on the rye, and further more it was quite comparable to the Dubbelbock from ‘t IJ. Nice stuff.
  • IJbok (2016) by Brouwerij ‘t IJ
    Also not bad, but far less impressive than the Dubbelbock
  • Dubbelbock by Koninklijke Brand Bierbrouwerij
    Brown water, but slightly better than the Amstel that follows
  • Bokbier (2016) by Jopen
    Nice, but not convincing
  • Bock (2016) by Amstel Bier
    Brown water. Soooo thin.

IPAs

  • Of Je Hop Lust by De Moersleutel
    Yes. Just yes. Incredibly fruity, and while that’s not my goto IPA style, this one rocks it. Also, with not too much alcohol and the triple dry hopping hasn’t turned it too dry. Very well done!
  • Monteith’s India Pale Ale (IPA) by Monteith’s Brewing Co.
    Boring
  • Virmalised by Põhjala
    Good, but nothing out of the ordinary.
  • Damiate DRIPA #3 by Jopen
    I don’t even remember this one, but I rated it at four stars.
  • Crema by Põhjala
    A coffee IPA in which you really have to search for the coffee. Which means there’s not much there and the beer is a tad pointless.
  • Tree Hugging Wood Chopping Mother Nature Loving IPA by The Flying Dutchman 
    Yet another predictable but good IPA.
  • Oat IPA by Lervig
    Gentle and quite tasty. Better than I expected
  • Tap Handle IPA by Jopen
    Another oat IPA, but this time with lemongrass. I’m not a huge fan. Too smooth for an IPA.
  • Vuur & Vlam by Brouwerij De Molen
    They call it IPA-ish, but it’s an IPA. And, like the Tree Hugging one, and Virmalised, it’s good but fairly generic. Still, I’d be thrilled to make one myself.
  • Not Totally Black IPA by HillDevils
    Forgettable.
  • Hop Doom by Naparbier
    This one… This one is insane, but oh so good. Ridiculous ABV, ridiculously bitter. But so tasty.

Pale randomness

Anything not a dark beer, but of which I didn’t have enough to warrant its own category.

  • Undercurrent by Siren Craft Brew
    An American Pale Ale, which is nice but not amazing.
  • Monteith’s Summer Ale by Monteith’s Brewing Co.
    Not sure what’s happening here, but this beer is not tasty. Avoid.
  • Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale by Boulevard Brewing Co.
    A great saison, I think. And available in supermarkets, which kind of makes it a nice go-to beer. Really big flavors for a saison. Recommended!
  • Hop & Liefde by Brouwerij De Molen
    Another American Pale Ale, which is nice but not amazing.
  • Lava by Septem Microbrewery
    I think this was my first Greek beer. Quite a nice one at that. A strong beer with some nice coffee influences.
  • Gulden Draak Brewmasters Edition (2016) by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
    I don’t like Gulden Draak, or at least I don’t like the regular one. This one, however, packs a serious punch and is pretty tasty if you ask me.
  • Grimbergen Tripel / Triple (2016) by Brouwerij Alken-Maes
    When there’s nothing on the menu that’s interesting you have to revert to some standards that used to be ‘special’ in the 80s.
  • English Bitter by Bierbrouwerij Emelisse
    Nice! You don’t see many of these outside of the UK, which is kind of a shame. This one is a true craft variety. By which I mean it’s true to style but more intense and with a higher ABV.
  • Many-Faced Got by Jopen
    Now this. I never had a Gotlanddricka before, which is a Scandinavian farmhouse ale with juniper. I’ve had this one a couple of times now and I find it one of the more amazing beers I’ve had over the last couple of months. It packs a serious punch and some serious flavor. The flavors, because of the brewing and the use of juniper are so different than anything else that I find it a truly outstanding beer, in both interpretations of the word. This is f-ing awesome.
  • Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio (2013) by Brasserie Cantillon
    Awesome, as can be expected. Quite sour, but I made the mistake to try this after a sour cider. Which resulted in the first sip of this really tasting like you just threw up in your mouth. Luckily, a few more sips cured that and the true awesomeness of this beer could be enjoyed.

Stouts and porters

  • Grain and Grape by Buxton Brewery
    Stout matured in red wine casks. I’ve had such a beer before which I didn’t like, but this one was pretty okay. Albeit in a ‘once, but not again’ kind of way.
  • Vanille Ice Cream Stout by Bierbrouwerij Emelisse
    Far too sweet for me.
  • Zuster Agatha Houtgerijpt (Winter 2014) by Muifelbrouwerij
    This one was recommended by some folks on Facebook, but I didn’t like it all that much. It is however, very good for its price since it’s one of the cheapest wood aged beers I’ve come across.
  • Black Koivunen by Põhjala
    Porter with beach wood. I like that they made this a true Baltic beer with that. And it’s very good too, and nice and dry. Recommended.
  • Je Moer by De Moersleutel
    De Moersleutel’s stout, which, as everything I’ve had from them so far, is really good.
  • Black Block Bourbon Aged by Cervesa La Pirata
    Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Had this twice now and it’s so good. The bourbon is really present without overpowering the beer or making it too sweet. Insanely good and highly recommended.
  • Imperial Rye Porter by Nøgne Ø
    Yup. Great stuff.
  • Unknown Pleasures by La Quince Brewery
    Good, but not outstanding.
  • Zwarte Zee by Jopen
    An oyster stout with a tinge of salinity. I didn’t really like this one though.
  • Zwarte Ruiter by Brouwerij Broers
    A nice and (single) hoppy stout. Pretty tasty and the mandarina bavaria hops really do give an orange like flavor.
  • Black Albert (2015) by De Struise Brouwers
    An insane stout that everyone should try at least once.
  • Motorolie 10 (Coffee Bean & Barrel Aged Walnut Wine) by De Moersleutel
    While ‘Je Moer’ was a great stout, this ‘walnut wine’ (never heard of that before) barrel aged version is simply decadent. It does everything right, and better. Highly, highly recommended. This might have become beer of the month if not for the Black Block Bourbon BA and the Many-Faced Got.
  • Strongest Than Ever by White Pony Microbrewery
    Yeah, well. This isn’t bad, but so far I’m not overjoyed with White Pony’s beers.

Barleywines, Quadrupels and other random stuff

  • Quadrupel by Buxton Brewery
    Generally, when a craft brewery tries to make a quadrupel, you get some cloyingly sweet, over ABV’d beer that resembles a Belgian one. Not this. This is fairly dry and packs loads of flavors. I was in doubt of spending a fiver on this, but it was very much worth it. Very good!
  • Trappistes Rochefort 8 (2016) by Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy
    Not bad, but very predictable.
  • Brewers Reserve Barley Wine (2016) by Lervig
    See the description of Buxton’s Quad. This one is insanely good too, with the cask aging adding another layer of great flavors. Highly recommended.
  • Everything But the Kitchen Sink by Cocky Rooster Brewing
    I made this one with unripe hops, which means there’s virtually no bitterness. Unfortunately this results in a fairly sweet black beer, with a tinge of smoke from the peated malt. Not too bad though.
  • Westoek XXXX Quadrupel (2013) by De Struise Brouwers
    See Buxton’s Quad. Again. Highly recommended.
  • My first Eisbock

    My first Eisbock

    White Label Barley Wine Old Smokey Moonshine BA by Bierbrouwerij Emelisse
    I expected more of this. I don’t even remember it, and it’s not been long since I had it.

  • Sint Amatus – Oostvleteren 12 (2013) by De Struise Brouwers
    While this is not the most impressive beer by De Struise, it’s still good. There’s just too much competition from this brewery alone.
  • Grand Prestige (2016) by Hertog Jan (Eisbock)
    I fucked around with Eisbocking this for a bit. I might try it again and compare it to the regular one to see whether or not I have to do more experiments or can forget about it all together. Tasty stuff though.
  • Inglorious Quad by Inglorious Brew Stars
    Not bad, but not that great either.
  • Anniversary 2016 by Laugar Brewery
    Not bad, but not that great either.
  • Vintage 2012 (Barrel No. 170) by Brouwerij Rodenbach
    An oldie, and a great one. Great, fruity acidity. Big flavors. Everything you want from this brewery.

Ciders

  • Premier Cru Suffolk Cyder by Aspall
    Yup. Great cider, with a champagne like tang to it.
  • Old Rosie Cloudy Cider by Westons Cider
    A sweeter cider, but also a very good one.
  • Hollandse Gedrooghopte Cider by Oedipus Brewing
    Still my favorite cider, especially from The Netherlands.

And not even beer

  • Mandarin And Seville Orange Jigger by Fentimans
    A brewed orange soda with some proper sediment in it. I tried Fentiman’s stuff first in 2010 on our first trip to Scotland and have loved them since. However, I was more impressed in the beginning. Their Dandelion and Burdock one is great still.

Like last month, I’m having trouble selecting a beer of the month. The ones on the shortlist are:

  • Many-Faced Got by Jopen
  • Quadrupel by Buxton Brewery
  • Brewers Reserve Barley Wine (2016) by Lervig
  • Motorolie 10 (Coffee Bean & Barrel Aged Walnut Wine) by De Moersleutel
  • Black Block Bourbon Aged by Cervesa La Pirata

The strange thing is that there were some amazing IPAs too, but somehow these never make my shortlist somehow. I think I should add:

  • De Moersleutel’s Of Je Hop Lust
  • Napar’s Hop Doom.

On the other hand, I know they won’t be topping the list in the end. I guess this has to do with the really hoppy beers being great and seriously loved (by me at least), they lack a tad of depth to truly make me taste them instead of drink them.

In the end, when all is said and done, I want to pick an awesome beer from the list. A lot of things are important, but let it be said that any of these beers is five star stuff. I might not realize it at the time of drinking (which kind of invalidates my ratings on Untappd), but if I’d be making up some ‘beer box’ for others, I’d be proud to put all of them in.

The one I decided to go with qualifies on a number of levels: I like it being Dutch, I like it being something I’ve not had before, and I like it being insanely tasty.

My beer of the month is the Many-Faced Got from Jopen brewery in Haarlem. A-ma-zing.

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