Beyond X (French Cognac)
King Street Brewing Company

amazing to have this special anniversary barleywine right next to the sherry edition, which i think was a little more dynamic than this one overall, but the cognac is robust here, and the base beer seems almost perfectly built for it, the booziness and richness is only amplified by this special barrel treatment, and this is packed with oak, umami, and wet earthiness. a little murky and dense like the other one, very little head or head retention, decent viscosity but not enormous. the nose is sweet like brown sugar, with the cognac adding some decadence to it, its also hotly alcoholic at almost room temperature, more intense here than the other one. i get a lot of malt depth too, concentrated and sticky, molasses and maple, honey and vanilla, a ton of dried fruitiness too, dates and figs namely, really appealing even though all the alcohol. the flavor is awesome too, cognac is obvious all the way through but climaxes real late, palate coating sweetness extends this on the tongue, and it seems super mature, long aged, a little oxidized, and more english than american at this point. impressive depth, but next the the sherry version some of its nuances seems muted. long long flavor experience here, lots of body, technically very good base beer too, transformed by its time in these barrels. wintery and huge, assuredly suitable for indefinite ageing...