Marks & Spencer Port Barrel Aged Greenwich Ale
Meantime Brewing Company Limited

Caged bottle. Cellared for two years. Dark toffee amber. Thick creamy head.
Sweet caramel malt and mixed dark fruit on the nose.
The taste is a muted version of the smell and the fruit is more candied. The port barrel is present but very distant.
Moderate to full bodied. Soft.
Further aging in the bottle seems to have worked well.

Bottled in a 750 ml bottle kept in place by cage and cork
pours a very very very dark brown body with massive
aroma is blackcurrant and treacle
add wholemeal toast to the aroma lsit for the flavour

This beer is very much NOT retired, I bought a bottle today from M&S Kensington High Street, London W8, It has a BBE: Sep 2019. It's packed in what looks almost like a champagne bottle, wire-caged 'pop-off' cork and all.
L - It 'pops and the neck smokes' just like a champage bottle too. Very dark clear brown when held to a light, but quite a bit short of appearing black. Pours with 5mm pale tan head, reducing to lacing quite quickly.
S - Toasty/roasty malts, grains and coffee, typical of quality stout. I don't smell the presence of port but that might just be my nose.
T - All the Smells^ writ large. It does have a tangy alcohol edge to it, above and beyond what a 6.0% might have but the port wine doesn't appear there on it's own for me as easy to isolate and identify. Perhaps that's the point and a good thing?
F - It's quite rich, but I might have preferred say 1-2% more ABV, and proportionally less sugar/sweetness to get that rich feel.
O - Overall even as a non-porter/stout regular an interesting experience. It's well crafted for it's goal, but maybe a bit too far on the sweet side for me to try again. Then there is the £5.50 price tag.

A 750ml bottle with a BB of Sept 2017. Sealed with cork and cage. Purchased a while ago from M&S. The label describes it as a blend of port barrel-aged Greenwich ale (30%) and London Porter (70%).

A: Poured into a tulip. A deep reddish-brown hue with good clarity and plentiful carbonation. Yields a large head of frothy tan foam that lasts for a while before reducing to a patchy surface layer.

S: Aroma of fruity malt with hints of dried fruit, prunes, raisins, subtle molasses, mild roasted grain, ale yeast, a touch of port and a whiff of booze in the background. Slightly oxidised. Pretty good, though a tad lacking in breadth of character.

T: Tastes of dark malt with notes of mild roasted grain, light dried fruit, prunes, a hint of molasses, ale yeast, faint port and a twinge of wood. Slightly sweet, with a robust, malty bitterness upon swallowing. Some interesting complexity yet simultaneously too thin.

M: Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and dry, with lively carbonation and a rather insubstantial body for the style. Aftertaste of bitter roasted malt, fruitiness and ale yeast.

O: A decent effort but far from outstanding. Looks OK, while the aroma and flavour have a pleasant fruity complexity but are lacking in depth of malt character and roundedness. Lacklustre body given the style. Would probably benefit from conditioning with live yeast, and I suspect that blending with a non barrel-aged beer had a quality lowering effect. While I'm glad that M&S are pushing the boundaries in offering this style of beer at a good price point, my impression is that it needs work. Not one to hunt down.