Heavier is the Head That Wears the Crown (Vanilla)
Skookum Brewery

 

 

 

This one pours a dark looking brown color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells caramel, creamy vanilla, toffee, chocolate, dark fruit, ice cream, and bourbon.

This honestly tastes like those Cow Tales candies dunked in bourbon, in a very nice way. There's a rich boozy caramel character, a touch of creamy and not too sweet vanilla, chocolate, oak spice, and both sweet and spicy bourbon.

This is medium bodied, with not a ton of boooziness. It's creamy and rich.

There was luckily not an overwhelming amount of vanilla here - it was a nice creamy light drizzle on top of an already excellent barrel aged barleywine.

Drinking: Pours a rich, dark brown with ruby edges. A tight, compact, off-white head emerges, despite the extended barrel-aging. Leaves a ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass as it recedes. Oh my god. I smell it already.

The aromas coming off this beer are just outrageous. Vanilla ice cream in a overcooked waffle cone, vanilla toffee, dark, booze-soaked raisins, smoky pipe tobacco and oaky coconut. Holy hell.

Speechless.. it’s a glass of salted vanilla caramel without the cloying sweetness. Oaky barrel tannins and coconut notes completely balance out the malty sweetness and floral vanilla. It’s bubbling custard with bourbon added. It’s rich and complex, beckoning you to keep tasting it so you can discover what else it can offer. I don’t have the palate to fully appreciate the brilliance of what’s going on here. It’s flawless.

Absolutely perfect carb and mouthful. Full and smooth, with absolutely no booze burn, even at over 14%.

This beer is without flaw. It ticks every box for me, and it’s just the 3rd beer out of over 5,000 that I’ve rated to get a perfect score. Mind blowing masterpiece.

Brown appearance with a slight tan head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is a very pleasant vanilla standard barleywine. Taste is a very smooth blend of vanilla and standard barleywine. Very thick feel.