The Angel's Share - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
The Lost Abbey - The Tasting Room

L: Pours a thick black brown color with no head or lacing on the glass

S: The booze is very forefront on this beer, hint of whiskey, notes of chocolate, molasses and sweet bread.

T: Lots of milk chocolate, mixes with a lot of strong booze whiskey and notes of vanilla, it's ok but not mind-blowing

F: Oily and slick mouthfeel, does seem a touch flat.

O: It's ok, and I have had this bottle for a while so it might not have just aged well, but wasn't overly impressed.

Review: 2621
Name: The Angels Share -Bourbon
Brewery: The Lost Abbey Brewing
Location: San Diego, CA
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 12%
Canned: 2015
Date: 24 May 2026
Initial Impression:
Another beer I've chased for years finally made its way into my glass—The Angel's Share. Seeing this on  The Lost Abbey's menu after nearly 15 years of hearing about it felt surreal. With that kind of buildup, expectations were sky high.
Appearance:
Served at 54°F in a tulip. The pour created an airy, frothy light-tan head about a finger thick with average retention, slowly dissipating without leaving much lacing behind.
The beer pours a muddy mahogany-brown with rusty-red highlights around the edges when held to the light. Mostly opaque overall, with a rich, aged appearance fitting for a barrel-aged strong ale.
Aroma:
Big barrel character layered over an aged malt profile. Sherry-like oxidation immediately stands out alongside bourbon, oak, char, vanilla, leather, and tobacco. The malt complexity follows with brown sugar, molasses, caramel, bread crust, light chocolate, roasted coffee, raisin, plum, and date.
The oxidative notes actually work in the beer's favor here, adding depth and maturity rather than reading as flaws. Aromatically, it comes across rich, layered, and inviting.
Flavor:
Barrel-forward and heavily driven by the bourbon character. Oak, bourbon, char, and light resin lead the palate, followed by bread crust, roasted malt, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, and moderate malt sweetness. Supporting notes of raisin, plum, date, leather, tobacco, earthiness, light chocolate, roasted coffee, and faint toffee add additional complexity.
While the flavors themselves are enjoyable, the balance feels uneven. The barrel influence dominates much of the experience, and the malt body underneath doesn't quite offer enough depth or richness to support it fully.
Mouthfeel:
Medium-plus body with moderate carbonation. Coating on the palate, but less chewy and robust than expected for the style. Alcohol warmth is noticeable and occasionally borders on hot toward the end.
Overall Impression:
The Angel's Share is one of those difficult reviews where the beer is clearly well-made, but the experience didn't live up to the years of expectation built around it. The barrel character is excellent on its own—expressive, mature, and layered—but it ends up carrying too much of the beer instead of integrating into a fuller malt foundation.
Coming off the heels of Cable Car and Duck Duck Gooze, both of which showcased incredible balance and restraint, this one felt comparatively disjointed. I kept wanting more body, more cohesion, and more interplay between the malt and barrel character. Instead, the bourbon profile dominates the beer, which never fully pushes back.
There's still plenty here to appreciate, especially if you enjoy barrel-forward strong ales, but for me, the balance just wasn't where I hoped it would be after all these years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice whiskey barrel flavors compliment a base ale.

 

 

Muddy brown strong ale, no head whatsoever, and absolutely no more disappointment after that. Great silky mouthfeel, vanilla flavor mildly allowing bourbon and even brandy notes to overtake it. Nice caramel malt finish, smooth from top of the glass to the bottom. Brandy flavor is more at the top, bourbon predominant through last sip. Superior effort!

2009 Vintage courtesy of acurtis.
(12 years old!)
Dark fruits,(prune, raisins), toffee, leather, wood, slight oxidization.
99% flat. No booziness. Smooth.
Overall: Though definitely old, this ages pretty well. Those melded flavors only age can produce. Ages better than most beers out there. From what I’ve read Lost Abbey was probably flat even when fresh.

The Angel’s Share is from 2016. Pours dark, dark brown. Almost black. Very little carbonation during the pour, and then a bit after it was all poured. Immediate aroma of bourbon. I was surprised it was so strong after 4-5 years. Taste follows - big bourbon presence, which makes me happy, because I love bourbon barrel aged beers. Between the color being almost black and the bourbon dominating, this is very close to a bourbon barrel aged stout instead of a barleywine. If given in a blind tasing I might think it was. There’s very little barleywine characteristic: it’s not sweet, don’t get any caramel or toffee. It’s still a bit boozy, but I like that in beers like this.

 

 

 

Viscous, opaque garnet-brown with no head; strong bourbon nose with hints of wood, cherry stone, candy sugar, moss, plum and oak smoke; fig, milk chocolate, red currants, a whisky hit with a big thread of vanilla, sweet comeback + warming end; medium-full, chewy, round.

3.75 4.5 4 4 4.25

Sat on this for 5 years.
No looker, but smells like a humidor - once you get past the booziness, the complexity of the aroma drips down the back of your throat.
The taste is dried dark fruit more than any caramel sweetness. And then that bourbon drops in… while among the most harmonious I’ve encountered, it does take over more than complement the base beer.
Not perfect: it’s flat + boozy - hard to avoid at 12.5%, but it should've mellowed with age. I see lots of good ratings for this, but some are a decade old - maybe this beer jumped out more before everything was getting put in barrels.
Overall, this has more in common with treacly English strong ales than anything else. But with a lot of bourbon.

More an advertisement for bourbon barrel aging than a complete beer.

Cork didn't want to get out, no pop. Pours dark brown, flat. Smells bourbon. Smooth mouthfeel, but could do with some carb. No alcohol to speak of. Taste is dry, woody, with some bice bourbon. Bit herbal, that old leather tobacco flavour from good barrels