Old Chimneys Good King Henry Special Reserve
Old Chimneys Brewery

Old Chimneys Good King Henry Special ReserveOld Chimneys Good King Henry Special Reserve
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From:
Old Chimneys Brewery
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV:
11%
Score:
96
Avg:
4.39 | pDev: 8.2%
Reviews:
37
Ratings:
73
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 23, 2021
Added:
Sep 10, 2003
Wants:
  158
Gots:
  16
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by wl0307:
Photo of wl0307
Reviewed by wl0307 from England

4.82/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
This is the third beer on my 2006 X'mas beer tasting menu. Purchased at the bottled British beer bar, Pig's Ear Beer Festival, early December 2006. Coming in a 275ml slim brown bottle, at 11%abv., the front label says: "Good King Henry Special Reserve 2002. An oak matured Imperial Stout brewed for the tenth anniversary on the 1st May, 2005 of Old Chimneys Brewery... Limited edition of 1000 bottles".--sounds very special indeed. Brewed on 05/01/2002, BB 05/01/2007. Served cool in a large Burgunday bulb wine glass, on 27/12/2006.

A: pours a pitch-black espresso colour, topped with a thin foamy khaki head settling fast to a rimmed foam; carbonation unknown.
S: just like what it says on the bottle, the sweet oaky, vanilla-ish fragrance leads the nose (like the scent of American white-oak barrels), covering a smooth bed of oily treacles, sticky dark stonefruits (raisins, plum jam and preserved red dates) with a touch of full-bodied ruby port, while the stout's mild roastiness is softened through 5-year-ageing to a silky smooth bitter chocolate-ness underneath... a swirl brings out underlying alc., but still much much milder than 11% suggests. Smoothly balanced between sourness, sweetness and oakiness with relatively little input of bitter roasted malts, and it's hard to discern one element from another--well-crafted and robust without being harsh at all.
T: sticky and oily sour-sweet dark-fruitiness (with a touch of Chinese smoked prunes)... quickly followed by an aromatic mouthful of black/roasted malts in the form of leather, sweet coffee, chewy and bitter chocolates... gradually the foretaste is taken over by a delicately vanilla-ish note of cigar and charred-woodchips aftertaste lingering at the back of the palate; a chewy, powdery texture of yeasts, mashed black beans, bitter licorice and flat-textured hops are more profound in the superbly soothing and bitter aftertaste, but the most lingering is still that tinge of charred-woody aroma. The overall structure of the flavour profile evolves all the time...
M&D: the word "silky smooth" is not strong enough to describe the sublime mouthfeel of this beer, while the texture remains nice and refreshing with microscopic fizz rubbing the tastebuds by stealth. Being in line with the tradition of English Russian Imperial Stout, this beer shows a rather quiet profile that invites one to explore with patience. The several years of ageing has softened the beer to an almost Chinese herb-syrupy texture, in that it's impossible to detect any bit of alc. while the body is oily and rich. This beer simply has to be a firm favourite of mine for this category.
Dec 27, 2006
More User Ratings:
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

4.46/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
275 ml bottle, vintage 2010, kindly and unselfishly shared by gunnar. ABV is 11%. Pitch black colour, moderate to low brown head. Lovely and intense aroma of roast malts, molasses, caramel, liquorice, vanilla and sweetened coffee. Intense but also smooth flavour, with the same elements as in the aroma, prunes, oaky and vinous notes. Moderate hops, amazingly well balanced and easy drinking for its strength. I want more of this!
Mar 23, 2021
Photo of vfgccp
Rated by vfgccp from New York

4.07/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
2010 vintage.
May 30, 2018
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

4.74/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Bottle from Colin. Absolutely superb! Sublime, mellow , catches up to you fast. Woody, sweet aroma. Taste is a melange is so many flavors, lovely textures, beautiful mouth feel. Heat creeps on you and slowly glows. Just perfect all around.
Mar 05, 2018
 
Rated: 4.66 by davesnowskate from England

Jan 09, 2018
Photo of unclekeith
Reviewed by unclekeith from Alaska

4.73/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Paradigm of the style. Thick, creamy - no gimmicks - just a perfectly executed Russian Imperial Stout. Full bodied and roasty. Bitterness balanced with sweetness. Lovely alcohol heat for days.
Dec 25, 2017
Photo of Fux
Reviewed by Fux from France

4.67/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
A: Pours pitch black, oily, viscous texture. I feared it would be completely flat but a small dark brown head formed after pouring, that actually has a pretty good retention, leaving a thin collar and some lacings long after.
S: Smell is rich and pretty incredible. It has dominant notes of dark chocolate but most of its complexity comes from its fruit character: mainly dark fruits, prunes, plumes, grapes but also ripe fruits and dry fruits like figs and currants.
T: Taste follows, stronger on the dark chocolate, with cherry and fudge coming next. Dark fruits and ripe fruits are still there, then the barrel character shine through with a dominant vanilla sweetness, notes of grapes skin and cherries. All this being delicately balanced. Finishes on dried fruits and candy sugar with a long aftertaste.
M: High body, oily, velvety mouthfeel, surprisingly mot much sticky despite a high residual sweetness and a low carbonation.
O: Beautiful beer which builds a bridge between classic traditional malty, yeasty beers, like old stouts or Belgian quadruples and more recent experimentations of the craft scene with a subtle but really nice barrel twist.
Oct 27, 2017
Photo of captaincoffee
Reviewed by captaincoffee from Virginia

4.41/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Pours practically black with a full brown head that is dense and leaves spotty lace. Nose is quite chocolatey, with a bit of bourbon as well and a touch of smoke. Nicely rounded. Taste is also not as huge as you might expect from a big beer like this, but it has nice rounded chocolate, coffee, and very mild booze. Mouthfeel is sensational...silky like a warm hug on your tongue. Overall a great beer but I found myself wanting it to be a bit bigger.
Edit: The above was the 2012 version, which I was able to get along with the 2014 release. Now that I've had the fresh 2014 as well, I would say the primary difference is that the bourbon is certainly more pronounced in the nose of the fresher beer. It is also a touch boozier, but not in a way that makes it less pleasant.
Oct 29, 2016
Photo of Mar02x
Reviewed by Mar02x from Netherlands

4.16/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
I have to say that I expected more. I just had the base beer before this one and that was beer was fantastic. So my expectations were high. Not that the reserve was bad, it just wasn't my taste I suppose. To much honey influence in the taste and it overpowered the barrel character.
Aug 09, 2016
Photo of Phyl21ca
Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)

4.25/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a medium size dark brown foamy head with some retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with nice black chocolates notes is pretty awesome. Taste is a nice mix of chocolate malt with light roasted malt with limited oak presence that rounds off any rough edges to this beer. Body is full with oily like texture and medium carbonation with no apparent alcohol. This is pretty quintessential English style stout with smooth flavours and easy drinking notes and without any extreme cloying flavours.
Jul 06, 2016
 
Rated: 4.32 by halo3one from Georgia

May 22, 2016
Photo of rudzud
Reviewed by rudzud from Massachusetts

4.42/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Shared with JLindros on my birthday. 2011 vintage.

A - Poured into a Kate the Great tulip dark black hue with a thin mocha head that fades to leave sticky lacing and fat legs. Great retention.

S Aromas of oak, light smoke, almost meat like smoke, earthy, dark fruits and chocolates are very subdued. The tannins are rather up front. No alcohol on the nose

T Taste is similar to the nose, loads of sticky dark fruits, caramel, toffee, light chocolate. The oak is pretty potent, loads of presumably port, sweet red wine vinous notes. Very nice mellow well rounded.

M Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, silky, alcohol hidden well

O - Overall this beer was rather interesting. Really different from the base beer with loads of oak and port to the point that it kind of washes out the base beer.

Serving Type: Bottle
Mar 29, 2016
 
Rated: 4.51 by hdtrice from England

Feb 29, 2016
Photo of jlindros
Reviewed by jlindros from Massachusetts

4.37/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Another thanks to rudzud for his birthday. 2011 vintage.

Thick creamy lush dark head fades semi slowly, little lacing and thick sticky legs again, still darker than pitch black.

Nose brings a lot of oak, oak tannins, little red wine thing on there, back to big roasty dark malts, char but not acrid that plays into a bit of a smoke like smoked meat, dusty barrel, the dark fruits are way in the background, nice carb choc cocoa, hint fluffy nougat.

Taste brings lots more oak again, sharp oak tannins and fresh oak, little dusty barrel, a sweet red wine mix with the dark fruits raisin date like, which are all background. More dark roasty malts, dark choc and cocoa, less than the original, thick lush chocolate, chewy, decent bitter hops in the background. Finish dry little sticky, mild bitterness, dark choc, bitter oak tannins lingering.

Mouth nice creamy lush, decent carb, no booze.

Overall pretty nice but the original was a bit better, the sharp oak tannins ripped through the great base beer, need to soak the chips in water first to pull the tannins out. Otherwise a great beer.
Nov 11, 2015
 
Rated: 4.22 by 1600eman from England

Nov 05, 2015
 
Rated: 4.23 by atpca from California

Aug 25, 2015
 
Rated: 4.29 by Hopsiam14 from Minnesota

Aug 21, 2015
Photo of KYGunner
Reviewed by KYGunner from Kentucky

4.39/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
This is amongst the oddest barrel aged stouts I've ever had but it's so Damn good and complex. It starts with peanut brittle, caramel, toffee, honey and honey candy. It slowly moves to molasses, sorghum, and heavy malts. Wow!
Jul 18, 2015
 
Rated: 4.44 by JackNip from Delaware

May 23, 2015
Photo of Rutager
Rated by Rutager from Canada (BC)

4.65/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
So incredibly balanced!! Everything is there that should be and in the perfect proportions. Ryan, you are the fucking man despite what they say!
Mar 23, 2015
Old Chimneys Good King Henry Special Reserve from Old Chimneys Brewery
Beer rating: 96 out of 100 with 73 ratings