Paragon 2019
Lervig Aktiebryggeri

330 mL bottle. Deep brown with a few bubbles at the edges. Smells of leather, bourbon, brown sugar. Tastes of dark fruits, bourbon, leather, a little brown sugar, and oak. Strong bitter earthy finish. Heavy and very strong on alcohol. Surprisingly bitter and, while it is sweet, it isn't absurdly sweet.

Nice bottle with fancy box purchased from The Epicurean for West Didsbury
Pours a dark dark brown body with very little tan head
Aroma is navy rum and molasses
Flavour is whisky fudge and sour limes

Poured at fridge temp, but allowed to warm for a little while. Pours dark brown with almost no head. The nose is insane. Huge bursts of toffee, vanilla, chocolate, apple pie, prunes, dates, and a hint of raspberry. The bourbon is definitely there, but doesn't dominate. One of the best noses on a BA barleywine.

The taste is superb. Super smooth. Perfectly balanced. Rich notes of toffee, chocolate, maple candy, vanilla, bourbon, raisins, plums, raspberries, and maybe a hint of walnuts. Fresh raisin bread. So good. It's a bit sweet, but not cloying in any way. This is incredibly nice, and the ABV is completely undetectable. A rare 5/5 on the taste. This clearly battles with the best BA barleywines out there!

 

 

 

Dark brown color with amaranth reflections. Low-hold beige foam.
Bouquet rich in malt, caramel, molasses, dehydrated cherries and plums, vanilla and bourbon. On the nose the olfactory bouquet is elegant and very precise.
On the palate there is a rich malty base, caramel, toffee, molasses, dark fruit such as plum and cherry, dates, light vanilla and a nice enveloping bourbon. In the finish there is a defined bitterness with floral and herbaceous tones and a cocoa aftertaste.
Full body, soft and velvety, low carbonation.

Bottle: Poured a deep copper color ale with a medium size brown foamy head with some retention and lacing. Aroma of deep caramelized malt notes with some toffee and some woody bourbon notes is quite enticing. Taste is a great mix of deep caramelized malt notes with some woody bourbon notes and balanced residual sugar notes. Body is full with some good carbonation and light warming alcohol notes. Incredible barleywine with a high level of complexity and high drinkability.

Pours a cloudy brown with glowing amber edges. Carbonation bubbles up hesitantly, and then quickly retreats. At 13.5% ABV, I’m not surprised.

Aromas of over-toasted savory coconut, freshly split vanilla beans and black cherries. The flavor is just insane.. balanced caramel notes, dark fruits, toasted coconut, oaky bourbon, milk chocolate. It’s so so well balanced, and as it warms and opens up, it becomes even more flavorful. The sweetness is there, but it’s constantly held in check by the massive barrel character.

Mouthfeel is super smooth, borderline still, but robust and slick. This is an epic barleywine.

 

Pouring clear butterscotch yellow-brown, the body fills to a darker copper, even muddying to a mahogany under its short bubbly tan blanket, which itself dies to a fine ring.

The aroma straight out of the bottle is rich and chocolatey, but it instantly becomes infinitely more complex and #lifey of caramel, orange resin and nutty dusty oak accented by hints of evergreen cologne.

Taste has darker caramels and hints of nougat while simultaneously remaining overall bitter from its mild woody char and hop combo that veers us back to Werther's with a hint of orange lozenge. As it warms, more spice develops, akin to gingersnap.

The medium body is slick, near syrupy, while avoiding the heavier, "thiccer" constitution that the masses might want, but I'm happy without. Its crackly, tingly carbonation comes to a warming, numbing semi-dry yet lightly sticky finish.

This exhibits classic notes from both English and American veins while doing its own thing. It does remind me of ADWTD, but is less sweet and more mature. And thus, better.

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Three and a half years after this review, and presumably over five years since bottling, it perhaps has a slight bit of a woodier bite, as if barely oxidized, but even moreso, it's now fabulously rich of expressive dark fruits and chars all in great measure, while less like Werther's or lozenge, yet slightly sweeter. This is also contrasted by a more black peppery accent.

 

 

This incredible barleywine from the masters at Lervig does- without a doubt, beat the last edition by far. Soo much more complexity, velvety sweet and heat layers. This one you do not want to miss out on.

Served from 33cl bottle

Look: pours very dark brown, almost black. Brownish foam.

Smell: Sweet, raisins, malty, fruit.

Taste: nice dried fruits and raisins. Some vanilla and sweet oak from the barrels.

Mouthfeel: good body, warming.

Overall: very good barleywine, barrels shine trough in a good way.

Dark brown, close to black, tiniest cream brown head. Smells very malty, dried fruit, light bourbon, oak. Nice thickness, smooth, quite warming. Taste is sweet, plenty of bourbon, lots of dried fruit, raisins. Some caramelly chocolateyness. Delicious.