English Barleywine Aged in Heaven Hill Barrels
Tombstone Brewing Company
- From:
- Tombstone Brewing Company
- Arizona, United States
- Style:
- English Barleywine
- ABV:
- 11.5%
- Score:
- +7 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 4.05 | pDev: 0.99%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 2
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Jan 24, 2026
- Added:
- Jun 14, 2019
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
Rich and thick with intense notes of toffee and caramel, this beer spent close to 4 years in Heaven Hills barrels, resulting in an enhanced malt character, new layers of complexity, and a well-aged, elegant smoothness. Time brought out the dark chocolate, caramel, and toffee flavors and balanced them with intense notes of oak, vanilla, and the spirit character from the barrel.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by Bouleboubier from New Jersey
4.1/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
4.1/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
(16 oz can, 12.5% abv, brewed in 2021 / released 2024, "barrel-aged 46+ months"; purchased cold at the brewery in Sept '25, shipped cross country... poured at 54 F into snifter)
L: chestnut brown liquid; very little foam on the pour... no cap, little collar... top up, more rusty tan foam struggled to build, then died off
S: bourbon-caramel-creme-glazed chocolate donut... once that initial whiff hits you, the only really tepid intensity it had fades and its expressions go a bit mute... top up reignited the aromas, same as before... remarkable how sedate the booze is
T: almost like an English brown ale / strong ale (Stingo) hybrid - dry, roasty but not quite stout-level; nutty bourbon note in the finish, which dies off a bit, allowing the brown malts and a hint of light caramel to re-emerge... gets maltier as it goes... pretty pleasant balance by the end; bitterness very rounded off, bit of vanilla creeps in, soft hint of oak on the edges
F: medium bodied with a mellow viscosity on the thru, but thins out in the finish, as if it was cut with actual bourbon... virtually no heat; bit of tingly warmth at the very back of the palate... the body starts to feel it halfway through; little residual sugars clinging to the tongue
O: I don't know if it's the extra-long aging or the ostensible Tombstone heat speeding up time, but this tastes like it's maybe twice its age... I didn't know what to expect from this - seemed like an interesting experiment, but it went too far? - too refined and easy (2503)
Jan 24, 2026L: chestnut brown liquid; very little foam on the pour... no cap, little collar... top up, more rusty tan foam struggled to build, then died off
S: bourbon-caramel-creme-glazed chocolate donut... once that initial whiff hits you, the only really tepid intensity it had fades and its expressions go a bit mute... top up reignited the aromas, same as before... remarkable how sedate the booze is
T: almost like an English brown ale / strong ale (Stingo) hybrid - dry, roasty but not quite stout-level; nutty bourbon note in the finish, which dies off a bit, allowing the brown malts and a hint of light caramel to re-emerge... gets maltier as it goes... pretty pleasant balance by the end; bitterness very rounded off, bit of vanilla creeps in, soft hint of oak on the edges
F: medium bodied with a mellow viscosity on the thru, but thins out in the finish, as if it was cut with actual bourbon... virtually no heat; bit of tingly warmth at the very back of the palate... the body starts to feel it halfway through; little residual sugars clinging to the tongue
O: I don't know if it's the extra-long aging or the ostensible Tombstone heat speeding up time, but this tastes like it's maybe twice its age... I didn't know what to expect from this - seemed like an interesting experiment, but it went too far? - too refined and easy (2503)
Reviewed by GreesyFizeek from New York
4.04/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
4.04/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
On tap at The Wandering Tortoise in Phoenix, AZ.
This one pours a dark-ish brown color, with very little head or lacing.
This smells like bourbon, vanilla, and caramel candy.
This is a decent enough effort, but the lack of body keeps this from truly “popping” unfortunately. The barleywine backbone is not strong enough to stand up to the barrel here. The barrel does give off some nice flavors, and a good soft vanilla note. The base barleywine comes off as pretty fruity, with raisins and date. I'd want a bit more caramel, or chocolate type notes to really make this stand out.
This one is just too thin, with very little carbonation. It does drink pretty smoothly without much booziness though.
I wanted to like this one more than I did. It’s a bit flawed but I like the idea.
Apr 06, 2021This one pours a dark-ish brown color, with very little head or lacing.
This smells like bourbon, vanilla, and caramel candy.
This is a decent enough effort, but the lack of body keeps this from truly “popping” unfortunately. The barleywine backbone is not strong enough to stand up to the barrel here. The barrel does give off some nice flavors, and a good soft vanilla note. The base barleywine comes off as pretty fruity, with raisins and date. I'd want a bit more caramel, or chocolate type notes to really make this stand out.
This one is just too thin, with very little carbonation. It does drink pretty smoothly without much booziness though.
I wanted to like this one more than I did. It’s a bit flawed but I like the idea.
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