UPDATED: APR 26, 2021 Bottle from Redlight in Orlando, FL. Bottled in 1997...Go Lions! Pour is absolutely no head which makes me wonder if this puppy oxidized ages ago. Aroma is fortified wine, vitamins, dried mushrooms or olives. Taste is old, stale wine, tobacco, leather...but all very stale. Hopefully this is actually turned and not what it’s meant to taste like!

UPDATED: FEB 12, 2021 Bottle, vintage 2001. Pours slightly hazy dark ruby with small, airy beige head. Clear aroma of malt and fruit, with touches of yeast and hints of hops. Bitter and dusty flavour with notes of fruit and nuts and touches of roasted malt. Bitter and roasty aftertaste with touches of acidic hints. Really nice. Especially that it is old. I just have a weak spot for old English ales past the BBD.

UPDATED: JUL 19, 2020 330ml bottle from Beers of Europe, King’s Lynn and drunk on 09/03/2010. This bottle was purchased just after the sale of Gale’s and had been brewed in 2005. A very intense old ale, with big dried fruit, musty grain, yeast extract and slight Oxo, meatiness. Really quite an interesting beer.

UPDATED: MAR 4, 2020 9.3 oz bottle '97 Vintage (Old Notes) Pours amber with no head. Aroma of caramel, toffee, malt, and dried fruit. Taste about the same. This full bodied brew is well balanced and hits the spot on a chilly evening.

UPDATED: DEC 14, 2019 275mL bottle. 1998. Pours mahogany with no head. Aroma is toffee, toast, and some vanilla. Taste is raisin, soy sauce, some caramel, some wood, and some dried fruit. Light bitterness. Dry. Light-medium body. Still. Thin, slick mouthfeel. Cork in very good shape. Surprisingly not oxidized. Drinks like its ABV is far lower than 9%.

Bottle at Craig's, 2006 version. Pours deep amber, nose is funk, caramel, raisin, light fruit, taste is zesty citrus, some almond, funk, juicy.

UPDATED: MAY 16, 2019 16/5/2019. Bottle, sample, courtesy of danlo, cheer Ed! Bottled in 2003. Brought up my #8000 rating. Aroma of black treacle, aniseed, dark chocolate, currants, sultanas, dates, christmas pudding, leather, toffee and molasses with a little late developing tobacco and nut. Moderate sweetness, moderate bitterness, light berry tartness. Medium body, slight oily and watery texture, soft to flat carbonation. Great complexity, the aroma just kept getting better and better and still very moreish to taste too.

UPDATED: MAY 5, 2019 275ml corked bottle from ebay. 2003 Vintage. Rating #5000. Dark brown colour, no head and aroma of earthy malt, leather, christmas cake, spicy, boozy. Taste is tart, malty, dried fruits, tobacco, molasses, dark fruity, red wine with some tangy bitterness. Medium bodied, low carbonation, dry tart nutty finish. Still very drinkable.

UPDATED: FEB 17, 2019 2005 bottle. Pours a murky brown from the bottle with thin bubbly off-white head that leaves minimal lace. Aroma of musty dirt and caramel malt, minor oxidation. Taste follows, musty and definitely old, probably past its prime, but the oxidation is lower than I expected. Cool to try, wouldn't search it out again.

UPDATED: FEB 9, 2019 2005 version. Pours opaque chocolate with a minimal head. Aroma gives toasted malt, caramel and earthy tones. Flavor features toasted malt, earthy, yeasty and caramel character. Texture presents fair body, but flat - well, after 14 years the fizz is not likely to last. Still a prize after all these years.