Træblod Reserve
Mikkeller ApS

2021 vintage, done with indonesian instead of mexican vanilla beans, and in maple syrup bourbon barrels instead of wheated bourbon barrels like the 2020 was, never got to try that one, but this was so epic, have to imagine the maple bourbon barrels kicks it up to a whole new level, hard to imagine this without that element now. a very unexpected gift from a couple of colleagues this one, one of my favorite breweries, one of my favorite ingredients in the maple syrup, and a total special occasion beer but i didnt want to leave it in the cellar and risk the coffee going weird, so we just cracked it randomly last night, an absolute dream to drink, a favorite beer in recent memory, unbeatable in the style really. impossibly thick, abyssal black in color, very short burnt caramel colored head, leggy as they come, a few flecks of sediment toward the bottom of the bottle on the sides of my glass, could be little flecks of vanilla bean maybe, sturdy as they come. the nose is mind bending, maple for days, the vanilla and the maple both popping with the oak and bourbon character, which is strong here, deep coffee too, a ton of roast, charcoal notes, dark chocolate for sure, and such a natural maple profile without it being diabetic, to me maybe a little more refined than in the original version, maybe fermented a bit drier here, this is super strong, and the alcohol enhances the maple in a way that doesnt require as much sweetness, very clever. the flavor is just as good, palate coating and majorly rich and decadent, the natural vanilla beans the the coffee absolutely play well with the maple, hard to think of this without the vanilla either, its so essential and unifying in this. the maple lingers long, it feels like maple syrup, and the whiskey character is amazing with it. there is a ton going on in the malt too, light smoke even, bitter cocoa, leather, and the oak is really well woven through it all. not much more than can be said about this, gold standard for this sort of thing, worth the exorbitant price, kind of the final evolution of the series i think, but who knows with mikkeller! unforgettably good!