[1] Review by changeup45 from Orlando, Florida, USA who has tried this beer once. (5/31/2008 8:08:35 PM)
"2006 vintage. Pours out a brown/amber color with no head at all. Aroma is very nice; roasted malts, tree bark, plums, molasses and a little bit of alcohol. The flavor is sweet and sugary with a lot of dark fruits, particularly raisins with some roasted malt. Silky smooth. The most amazing part about this beer is that the 11.5% is hardly noticed. If any alcohol shows at all it is a little in the finish. Way better than the Thomas Hardy 2005 I sampled recently. This really is impressive. "
Aroma:
9/10
Appearance:
7/10
Mouthfeel:
10/10
Flavor:
9/10
Overall:
9/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.4)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 275ml @ $5.99 Unit Cost: $10.31 per Pint
[2] Review by oh6gdx from Vaasa, Finland who has tried this beer once. (2/29/2008 4:23:13 PM)
"Bottled (vintage 2000). Deep amber colour, mediumsized beige head. Aroma is wooden, alcoholic, earth, wet cellar, caramel and some vanilla. Flavour is raisins, sugar, dates, caramel malts, very mildly alcohol. Also bigtime wood, butter and spices. nuts, mild syrup. hmm in one word, Licoricebomb! WOW. 9 5 10 5 20
Bottled (2004 vintage). Deep amber colour, mediumsized beige head. Aroma is very much the same as 2000 vintage, but not as thick and full. Flavour is pretty much the same, but quite much sweeter sugary/syrupy than the 2000 one. Still excellent balance and very nice. 8 5 9 5 18
Bottled (2006 vintage). Clear amber colour with mediumsized beige head. Aroma is mainly oak, syrup, sugar and caramel malts with some dates and raisins. Overall very sweet. Flavour is very different. Very papery, roasted and smoked wood along with dates, raisins and quite much alcohol. Either this one has some smokemalts or something added, or then the smoked/roasted notes just disappear with time. Still nice. 8 5 8 5 17
The above vintages blended into the same glass. Deep ambery brown colour, small beige head. Aroma is roast, dates, plum, alcohol, caramel, vanilla and quite strong notes of oak. Flavour is an extremely wellbalanced mix of the stuff in the aroma along with some sweet spices and syrup. Rather pleasant, but still, the 2000 vintage is the best of these. Alone. 8 5 9 5 18"
Aroma:
9/10
Appearance:
10/10
Mouthfeel:
10/10
Flavor:
9/10
Overall:
10/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.8)
Sampled: Bottle
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
[3] Review by Chef Chad from Grand Junction, CO, USA who has tried this beer once. (2/16/2008 11:19:54 PM)
"2001 limited edition. Massive body on this one. Very strong port like aroma. massive raisin taste and smell with a strong sugary finish. This is a lot of fun to drink. I might go by the 1996 edition now."
Aroma:
10/10
Appearance:
8/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
9/10
Overall:
9/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.4)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 12oz @ $5.79 Unit Cost: $7.72 per Pint
[4] Review by bosoxbrent from Silver Spring, MD, USA who has tried this beer once. (11/16/2007 6:56:56 PM)
"I had this at a beer dinner at RFD in Washington, DC where author Lucy Saunders paired a multi-course meal with different beers. So this was my first time having this beer.
Barleywine is a weird beverage for me. I've never been a huge fan of it. So the fact that it was served last at the beer dinner didn't bode well for me enjoying it. By this point I was already 9 beers in and my taste buds weren't too excited for a "high octane" brew.
The Harvest Ale pours out pretty nicely. It has a very nice dark brown color to it with little carbonation and very little head. Aromawise, it had the typical barleywine smell to it. Tastewise, it was strong and my tastebuds were spent. Needless to say I didn't enjoy it that much.
This beer, drunk under the right conditions, would probably be quite enjoyable. I like the idea of sipping on this after a light dinner and puffing away on a cigar. I think the marriage of a tasty cigar and this drink would be great. I'll definitely have to give it one more try under different circumstances."
Aroma:
7/10
Appearance:
7/10
Mouthfeel:
7/10
Flavor:
6/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.4)
Sampled: Hand Pump
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
[5] Review by FengShuiDCU from Alexandria, VA, USA who has tried this beer once. (9/15/2007 2:04:21 PM)
"1998. First time I've experienced a beer like this, as such, the nose gave me pause. I've smelled beers like this that I had to toss. No, this is different. I love Heath bars. The is the the culmination of the best Heath bar with the best beer/congac/port wine experience I could imagine. No head or lacing...why would it--it's nine years old! Love it. Must locate, buy and age."
Aroma:
9/10
Appearance:
10/10
Mouthfeel:
10/10
Flavor:
10/10
Overall:
10/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.9)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 9.6oz @ $14 Unit Cost: $23.33 per Pint
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(4.4)
