White Label Imperial Saison - White Wine Barrel-Aged
Brouwerij Emelisse

Very balanced brew. Some classic peppery notes on the smell along with oak. The taste is of subtle toffee, oak roundness. Very balanced. A bit of fruits. Quite a sipper even if the high ABV doesn't make it boozy. A nice emelisse yeast character. Low carbonation.
A very good beer. Quite unique, maybe more of light barleywine or a wheatwine than a saison

Pours a cloudy dark amber-light brown color with a solid, froth eggshell white head.

The white wine barrel is very prominent on the nose, featuring a vivid lemon and grape crispness with just a juicy hint and lots of leathery funk. Its rustic Saison profile features dry earth, old leather, old flowers and wet mushrooms, together with a note of marzipan. Comes very well together on the nose by providing an intriguing depth ranging from a rustic Saison to a heavy grape fruitiness from thr barrel.

Has a lower carbonation with a very unpleasant sour and dry finish, which is totally overoaked like when sucking on an old wine cork. Its body is unnecessary heavy, relying heavily on the barrel with a wooden booziness onwards from the mid palate. No balance to speak of with a very off putting and confusing flavor profile to it - not sure what they were aiming for.

Earthy, oaken barrel punishes the palate from the first split second, which does not produce any fruit depth at all, only wood bark and more oak. This comes along with a hollow, oily heavy mouthfeel, which produces a medicinal sour- and dryness revealing an unpleasant alcohol bite during the finish. There are some remaining, brighter notes detectable, reminding me of drinking an actual Saison for just a moment, but that impression does not last for long. Its faint, soothing wheat quality gets washed away by an artificial flower perfume and the oak barrel, which resembles to biting beaverishly into a plank of wood.

This is not close to being drinkable. Its nose is certainly promising, while the taste ruins the whole party throughout.