Xyauyù Barrel
Birra Baladin

Pouredfrom vintage 2014 bottle at Baladin bar in Bologna into a teku.

Gorgeous, copper red dark burnt mahogany.. stunning body.. no head never see anything like it.

Smells like a tootsie roll. Soft chocolate taffy.. spiced licorice.. wow impressive.

One word incredible.. large amounts of tootsie roll.. soft milk chocolate, wine oak flitting with tawny port. Silky smooth, pure velvet, washes with light anise, cinnamon, clove even some soft white pepper.

This is easily the most unique tasting barleywines I have ever had.

Brown body with copper nuances; no head and no particles.
Complex malty aroma (caramel, toasted) with notes of wood, dried fruits, alcohol, porto.
Heavy sweet and light-to-moderate bitter flavour; long-lasting sweet finish with alcoholic warming.
Full body with syrupy texture; flat carbonation; moderate alcoholic warming in the finish.
They call it "wine"... and that's what it tastes like...

Bottle: Poured a deep burgundy color barleywine with no real foamy head. Aroma of deep caramelized notes with dry fruits notes and some barrel notes. Taste is also a mix of deeply caramelized malt notes with dry fruits and a semi-sweet finale. Body is pretty full with good carbonation with some discernible alcohol notes. Nice still barleywine with some nice oak notes - one of a kind.

2017 vintage

I absolutely love this line, been holding off opening this one for around a year I think.

This comes across very much like the Gold label and it's glorious. Abundant honey-like sweetness melds seamlessly with notes of sherry, dates, marshmallow, and sugary rum. More faintly I get hints of chocolate, vanilla, maple syrup, and more. Just so many layers here, an absolute masterpiece.

 

Had on cask aged 10 years! Pitch brown body, no head. Smell immediately points to the run barrel with sugar cane within the malt, molasses, big dark fruit, especially date, with the usual xyauyu rustic barley, tobacco and earth. Taste has more grape than date, tobacco and barley still large, rum dominates the oak from the barrel notes, some light vanillins do emerge though. Doesn't feel as rustic or deep as others, but still plenty of barrel character, booziness, and barley with a fine malt backbone.

Doesn't necessarily smell any different than a jw lees. While I LOVE jw lees I'm going to be extremely let down if this turns out to be a $55 bottle of something hardly any better.

Pretty awesome beer but not that kucb better than some of the better jw lees I've had (like a 2003). Im also not sure that the no carbonation approach is doing it for me. While I hate high amounts of carbonation in not sure I endear zero carbonation.

Overall this is good but kind of a novelty. I corked it to revisit maybe it'll strike me a little differently on another visit.

A 500ml waxed and corked bottle, 2014 vintage, bottle #0402. Poured into a snifter glass.

Appearance: Dark brown in colour with no head and no lacing.

Aroma: Dark fruit, raisin, dates, rum, molasses, caramel, toffee, and a touch boozy.

Taste: Like the aroma, sweet, dark fruit, raisin, dates, rum, brown sugar, molasses, caramel, toffee.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied, a touch syrupy, no carbonation.

Overall: Definitely a sipper as it was almost too sweet for me. Just not as balanced as the Fumé.

2016 vintage; drank 12/21/21 @ the Yarchives.

Rum barrel; lot 206/140-3. 15.5% a.b.v.

Opaque brown/orange appearance.

A slow pour yielded almost no tan head; no lace.

Acorn, rum (and accompanying booze heat), leather, ruby port & raisin notes in the nose.

Flat, thick mouthfeel.

BIG rum flavor up front, followed by raisin, oak, leather and then some more rum.

An after dinner sipper, for sure, but you won't forget it. I really like this!

 

 

2005 vintage. Missing a cap. 16oz. oz. corked bottle into a Brooklyn Brewery snifter.

Pours unsurprisingly flat. I get notes of soy sauce, raisin, chocolate, fudge, roast, booze, and prunes. Super deep, rich, and aromatic. Beer opens chocolate, raisin, and fudge. I get sweet soy sauce, brown sugar, and maple, and molasses in the middle. Boozy at the back. Vinous at times with more raisin, fudge, and dried prune. Brown sugar and booze at the finish. Long, lingering, sticky, and sweet and velvety molasses aftertaste. Body is full with no carbonation. I can't express how spot on this feel is despite the lack of bubbles. Really coats the palate and is wam, viscous, and rich going down with a long, lingering, oily aftertaste.

This beer is a perfect expression of the style. Absolutely amazing.

Shared 500 ml bottle, vintage 2014, at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 14%. Dark brown colour, no head, low carbonation. Intense oaky aroma, notes of molasses too. Extremely sweet and rich flavour, notes of oak, vanilla, caramel, raisins and dark dried fruits.

 

 

 

This one, also still, has a merlot sort of look to it--dark red, almost black, with a fluid, silky still surface. It's quite pleasant to look at under the light.

Taste is tobacco, dark red grape, raisin, and lots of fig. It's almost wine like, as it's super smooth, but there's no heat or booze, and it's quite unique with a hard to pinpoint earthiness.

This one was even more difficult to rate than Lune, as it was a little more difficult to interpret, but I preferred Lune more, as this challenged my palate a little too much.