Iberian Walker
Olde Hickory Brewery

~3.3 year old bottle

Lovely aroma, perhaps a touch oxidized, but it goes well with the base beer. Barrel comes through mostly as boozy heat and a touch of sour grape; most of the aroma profile is from the barleywine, carrying notes of leather, caramel, and bread.

Much more sour on the palate (not SOUR BEER sour, but still) than any barleywine I've ever had; 6.66 years in a port wine barrel will probably do that, yeah. It's not an unpleasant complement to the base beer, just a bit more than ideal. This is a barleywine that emphasizes the last syllable.

12oz bottled 11/12/2021 (3 years ago) poured into a teku glass at fridge temp 10.6% ABV. Purchased at room temp in Ashville, NC a few months ago. The beer pours dense dark brown with minimal highlights and light brown head. The head recedes to a pencil thin ring and little else. The aroma is moderate in strength yielding old books, oak, leather, prune, fig and brown sugar. The taste is oxidized caramel malt with oak, red wine and a touch of red fruit preserves. There is a medium plus hop bitterness with earthy flavor mixed in the malt. The feel is medium plus bodied with low carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, unfortunately past it's prime. This tastes like a barleywine that would have been tremendous, but age & storage has played a factor with this bottle.

 

12oz bottle poured into a snifter
Bottled 11/21
Aged in port barrels for 80 months

A- pours an opaque brown with a one-finger creamy khaki head that reduces to a thin film floating on top

S- aroma is dominated with port giving an array of dark fruits; figs, prunes, raisins, black cherries, vinous red grapes & old oak. There's a distinct note of cherry pipe tobacco that follows, along with leather, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, even a hint of nuttiness as it warms. Truly complex aroma

T- as with the aroma, flavor is dominated with port up front; stewed figs, raisins, plumbs, black cherries, even some stewed cranberry. Mid-palate brings out noticeable tannins, along with wet oak. The base beer is overpowered for the most part, but I am picking up notes of caramel, brown bread & brown sugar. The finish gives more dark fruity port, as well as some chocolate, the port lingers

M- medium body with moderate-low carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that turns creamy into a slightly warming dry tannic finish, sticks to the tongue like a port wine

O- you have to be a fan of port to enjoy this one, as it basically drinks like a glass of port. I really enjoyed it