Aaron - Bourbon/Cognac
Hill Farmstead Brewery

 

Sweet caramel and brown sugar malty, fig newton's, and a sweet bourbon barrel nose on this one! Taste follows with some brown sugar and toffee bits upfront...and then a smooth, cognac and oak-barrel finish...not boozy at all. This has aged spectacularly! It is so balanced, mellowed out, and well-integrated. This is Great!

Poured from a 500ml bottle into a snifter. Chewy, caramel and perfectly sweet. Barleywine doesn't get much better than this in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

500 mL bottle. Deep amber. Smells of cognac, oak, brown sugar, hints of vanilla. Tastes of cognac up front, brown sugar, wide variety of sugar flavors. Vanilla and a little bourbon in the finish. Heavy, though not all that sweet. Good.

 

 

 

 

This is the thinnest, least complex variant of Aaron. It is sugar diabetes to the dome with muted bourbon barrel notes and a thin body. It strays from the traditional barleywine model, but it is still a banger. Girls will love this variant of Aaron above all others.

81st unique beer that I have drank from Hill Farmstead.

500ml bottle with silver pressure cap. Bottle label states: "bottle conditioning since April 17, 2020".

Poured into Durobar Charente glass with white etched Hill Farmstead Logo because the proper glassware is always the best way to go!

Appearance: Murky brown bodied beer with small cap of khaki colored head. Head drops down to a thin ring around the glass and a small cap can be easily roused with some swirling. No lacing from the head. Booze legs noted.

Smell: Bigger bourbon than cognac notes initially when this beer is straight out of the fridge. Figs and light dark fruits. Light light oak barrel. Hints of brown sugar, caramel, & toffee sweetness. Bourbon smell spicier and the Cognac notes build as the beer warms to room temp and opens up very nicely in the aroma department.

Taste: Light dark fruits with brown sugar, caramel and coconut sweetness to kick things off. This beer is sweet & rich without being cloying. Hint of red grapes and leather in the middle. Finish has this big dry earthy oak punch followed by a flash of lightly spicy bourbon and then even lighter yet cognac grapey note that almost has a rich / mature port wine profile about it. Brown sugar, coconut, and caramel notes are found in a long lingering decadent finish!

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied barleywine with low yet adequate carbonation levels. How is this barrel aged english barleywine only 9% abv? Lightly warming spirit presence that is not boozy at all. Sticky and sweet texture without being overly thick. I like the lighter body with big barrel notes here.

Overall: Excited to try this spin on Aaron. Had Aaron once or twice in the very distant past and it's way up there... personally ranked as one of the best BA English Barleywines that I have drank. At the time it was a very memorable beer. Expectations are pretty high for Aaron Bourbon/Cognac.

Anyways, I really love the how big oak notes are in this beer and Aaron is such a great base beer for the "double barrel treatment". The Bourbon is certainly bigger than the Cognac yet the Cognac provides subtle complexity to the barrel profile. I think this how I would prefer to have the barrel profile for this beer; I would not have liked the Cognac to be dominate barrel note. You still get a lot of the base beer flavors that are familiar to Aaron and the barrel notes are just on point. Not sure why they didn't name this beer "double barrel Aaron" since it was aged in two distinct spirits barrels by the Hill Farmstead Crew. Either way, I highly approve of this alliteration of Aaron. Another world class barrel aged and blended beer from Hill Farmstead.

 

 

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

This one smells light spicy oak, lots of dark fruit, leather, bourbon, caramel, and coconut.

This is much oakier in feel than the regular Aaron - this is a really excellent update to one of the best barleywines out there. There's also more dark fruit, and even some coconut, almong with more typical notes of caramel, toffee, and leather.

This is medium bodied, with no real booziness to it, and a really great drinkability to it.

This is great now, and I also imagine that it will age quite well.

 

 

Lovely barleywine! Cognac takes front and center, bourbon more in the background.

500ml bottled April 2020, released February 2022. I’ve missed all previous Aaron releases, so I couldn’t wait to pop one open. I’m not disappointed!

L: pours murky brown caramel color with 1/2 finger head that dissipates quickly

S: sweet dark fruits, toffee; bourbon sweetness is there but not overwhelming everything else

T: Fantastic. Taste follows the nose with strong sweet notes of toffee, caramel, raisin and figs. Bourbon and cognac flavors are present but they are well melded together. Overall I think the addition of cognac barrel flavors is a big win. I’m drinking this 3 days after release and it drinks like an aged beer - no rough edges that you might expect from a fresh barrel aged beer. The 2 years of bottle conditioning is probably contributing to that. There is faint oak in the finish but the other flavors are in the driver’s seat.

F: Creamy with nice thickness, low carbonation

O: One of the best barleywines that I’ve had so far. Looking forward to drinking more of this over time.