Circle Of Wolves - Cognac Barrel-Aged
The Veil Brewing Co. - Production Brewery

Wolves. Cognac. A label that's pretty with barely readable text. A series of barleywines. Everything speaks in a singsong whisper: winner.

The pour is typical English Barleywine; like a muddy spring pool I just stepped in by accident without proper footwear. Bubbles missing. Smells strongly of cognac, French nobility, & booze.

Circle of Wolves - Cognac Barrel Aged is my first go-round with this series & I'd like to try more. There aren't enough good barleywines in the wild. Barrel is foremost, along with peasant dirt, dates, raisins, woody vanilla. Finishes with strong alcohol notes. Heavy. Too heavy. Might be best in a smaller (less pricey) format to maximize enjoyment.

This is so close. Could use some - any - carbonation to keep it from feeling like a cognac brick in the stomach, but the barrels carry this over the finish line. Very good beer kissing the arse of excellent.

Opaque shimmering brown with a tan head. Smells of big barrel with a refined rustic oak, barley, caramel, raisin, and minor molasses. Taste is boozier with barrel taking backseat, barley, molasses, raisin, and golden raisin, with hints of tobacco and anise. Feel is lighter but never thin, barrel and barley driven, malts support.

Poured at fridge temp. Pours a murky/muddy brown with pretty much zero head. The nose is insane. Cognac is dominant, which isn't surprising given the time aged in cognac barrels. The fig note is super intense on the nose. It's like I'm biting into wonderfully fresh figs. Dates, almonds, and toffee are also there.

The taste follows the nose. It's almost like I'm drinking cognac. Rarely does a barrel come through this much. Some toffee, vanilla, figs, prunes, raisins, and a hint of brown sugar. Don't get me wrong, this isn't overly sweet at all. Just very barrel forward. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a nice fruity/boozy aftertaste. Wonderful experience.

Poured a dense, brown body with no head retention. The aroma isn't overpowering, do get some woodiness and booze and also light notes of raisins, berries and vanilla. Smooth yet heavy body, easy to drink, has a vanilla boozy edge and woody smoothness and there are fruits in there, most notably raisins and figs, and beer has dry but not hot finish and is relaxing.

Look - Pours a very dark brown color with a small head that disappears after a minute or two.

Smell - Cognac, oak, malt, and dark fruit.

Taste - Really nice taste of Cognac, dark fruit, and malt.

Feel - Very smooth and easy drinking, perfectly carbonated, easy drinking at 12.5% (according to the bottle I have, not the BA description).

Overall - This is a very nice barleywine from Veil. I like it.