Heaven & Hell - 'breckenridge barrel aged'
Brouwerij De Molen

Got this from the liquor store in Maarssen

From a bottle into a snifter
26.9*P
EBC: 494
EBU: 97
Bottled 07 April 2020

APPEARANCE: Pours our clear black and yields a 1+ finger, thicker looking, creamy tan head with excellent retention. Black body with lower levels of carbonation evident. Head slowly recedes to a slight wisp and coats the sides of the glass.

SMELL: Whisky, oaky, vanilla and milk chocolate aromas, toffee and burnt brown sugar and hints of chocolate brownies on the nose. Bold and enticing.

TASTE: Whisky, oak and wood flavors, some milk chocolate, vanilla and brown sugar up front, leading into a boozy and whisky swallow. Bold finish of whisky, wood, vanilla and milk chocolate, brown sugar, chocolate brownies, toffee and caramel sweetness and some decent alcohol linger on the palate. Bold and boozy.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Creamy and somewhat foamy on the palate, lighter, goes down fine with a decent burn and finishes somewhat mouth-coating. Some solid heat lingers.

OVERALL: Pretty good stuff. Haven’t had much De Molen for the last couple years as I never get down to the brewery any more, but it’s nice to see the odd barrel aged beer make it to the local liquor store in Maarssen. This is a good one; actually better than I remember them before I stopped making the effort. Reminds me of the good ol’ days when they were all top notch. Check it out if you can. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

Advent Calendar 2020-09. Bottled 07-04-20 Pitch black, creamy brown foam. Smells spicy, rye-like almost. Definitely heavy and boozy, tad thin. Taste is heavy, sharp spicyness, bourbon, smoothing into dark cacao coated coffee beans. Subtle barrel. Lovely.

I'd put this one aside so that I could drink it for my #1500 review; I'm hoping it's going to be something a bit special. This beer at 15.4% is going to take the #1 spot in my ABV% rank just pipping a stupifying 15.2% Garun Icelandic stout that I enjoyed up that way last year.
Looking at my reviews ranked by ABV% what is only now clear to me is that I tend to rank say 10%+ beers lower than others/average. Surprising, shouldn't big/$ beers lend themselves to being really impressive? I suspect that it is because at such levels you can pretty much assume they're going to be somewhere between very rich outright sweet = not my thing.

L- Jet black, not a photon get through it even with a halogen torch held to the back of the glass. Pours with 3-4mm quite deep tan head that, unsurprisingly given the ABV%, is not able to stick around for long, leaving a small patch above the glass's foam-creating nucleation spot.
S- First sniff I thought I sensed wine-barrel but after that it was clearly whisky. I don't get anything else clearly but my nose is pretty congested.
T- Boom! Or rather BO-OOO-OOO-OM!, it builds and builds and builds almost in distinct steps. I get charring of wood, pungent coffee, a smokey note and liquor. I get whisky (I should write whiskey since it's US) but am interested to see something like a minor wine note still appearing. It's a full-on taste, one for slow-sipping...
F- It is somewhat rich but considering the ABV% it keeps an impressive balance. There is zero risk of this one warming and becoming what I regard as outright sweet, a bonus. The liquor note is noticably building as it warms a touch.
O- Wow, well the liquor smell/taste are clear to behold but done with balance. It is a beast of an ABV% and could have so easily (as most others approaching this % seem to) led to something unbalanced.
Acid-test: Would I drink it again = yes, happily. Would I buy it again? Well at £7.75/330ml bottle it's flippin' expensive but say as an Xmas treat I could be pursuaded. Bottled: 07/04/20 BB: 07/04/30. From TremblingMadness/York for home delivery.
p.s. As usual this review was written 'almost blind', well, without knowing more than the Brewery/Beer Name/ABV%, ie no reading of lables or other reviews here/elsewhere.