UPDATED: JAN 1, 2022 Bottle 2014 shared with friends. Dark brown colour, creamy foam. Aroma: sweet, bourbon barrel, a little dill, candies, dried fruits, candied fruits, very interesting. Taste: sweet, plum wine, candied fruits, bourbon, raisins, powerful, warming, light dried fruits, port, excellent balance, very good.

UPDATED: DEC 29, 2021 2017 bottle shared with Gyhallmanti and Richardvv94. Appearance: pours deep dark brown with a minimal off-white head. Aroma: dark malts, rye, molasses and complex sugars, bourbon, raisins and dried fruits, quite some roasted and toasted notes, hints of smoke and coffee even. Taste: high sweetness, quite high bitterness. Notes of rye, molasses, bourbon, trace of hopjes. Palate: full bodied, oily texture and soft carbonation. Overall: I don't know why, but I expected more of an English style barleywine with less bitterness. This one fits the rest of the BC family mch better. Great beer, but it might have been over its optimal time to drink. Rich, complex, exciting and enjoyable.

UPDATED: DEC 29, 2021 50cl bottle (2017) split with SimonBlok and Richardvv. Courtesy of SimonBlok. Pours a brown colour with a reddish hue and no head. Aroma of malt, rye, caramel, dark malt, candy sugar, dark ripe fruit. Taste is medium sweet, medium bitter with a medium dry finish. Notes of dark malt, caramel, bourbon, rye, candy sugar, slight wood, dark ripe fruit. Texture is oily to watery, medium bodied with soft carbonation

UPDATED: DEC 11, 2021 Tap at kool keg. Dry glad to have found this. 2017 batch. Dark reddish brown color. Ruby highlights. Light head, slight beige bubbles. Big malty notes, dark fruit, raisins, oak, low roast, earthy. Medium full bodied. Big malty flavor. Dark fruit, plums. Oak, char, woody bitter. Alcohol warmth, low bourbon notes. Fairly balanced. Damn good.

UPDATED: MAY 19, 2021 2017 500ml bottle. Pours a very dark reddish brown color and capped by a small tan layer of foam that settles in quickly to a thin film. The aroma shows notes of dark fruit, toasted caramel, raisins, plums, and bourbon oak over a toasted caramel and toffee malt base. The flavor follows suit with notes of dark fruit, raisins, plums, and bourbon oak to go with the toasted toffee and caramel malts, some earthy bitterness, and a boozy warmth on the finish. Full bodied and smooth with soft carbonation that leads to a slightly dry and fairly sweet caramel, toffee, dark fruit, and bourbon soaked oak on the finish with some lingering boozy warmth. Really nice barleywine that has held up really well over the years.

UPDATED: MAY 14, 2021 Fles gedeeld door Benzai, geprobeerd met Keukeman. het is een diep donkerbruin bier met een beige schuim. Het heeft een bourbon achtige geur met tonen van hout en fruit. De smaak is vol, bourbon, vanille en hout.

UPDATED: FEB 14, 2021 2017 bottle. Pours dark chestnut brown with no head. Aroma of bourbon, raisin, plum, and vanilla. Complex flavor with raisin, plum, molasses, and vanilla. Warm finish. Alcohol not really noticeable.

UPDATED: AUG 19, 2020 Bottled 7 SEP 2013. Huge thanks Ryan for sharing! Murky brown body, no head. Chocolate, coconut and vanilla fight in the aroma with some caramel, light alcohol and further barrel notes, which don't stand out as much. Soft taste, chocolate and coconut again, more caramel, almost heading towards stout territory, but still firmly grounded in barleywine territory, some oxidised maltiness, smooth, with a light kick in the finish, light herbal bitterness too shows in the finish, fairly well hidden alcohol in the taste. Excellent!

UPDATED: AUG 28, 2021 Mixed review bottle (10/18/2016 13.6 ABV and 10/10/17 14.4 ABV) both courtesy of AirForceHops--thanks, Chris! Appearance is very dark brown, virtually opaque black, with no sparkle, cap of yellow-khaki head quickly fading to a ring with no lacing. Nice viscosity. Aroma is bourbon, dark fruit, caramel, wood with a mild almost buttery/creamy quality. Taste is nice mix of bourbon over caramel, raisin, plum, wood, vanilla. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with smooth texture, soft, mellow carbonation with late pleasant alcohol heat in the mouth (2016 vs. 2017), finish as taste. Overall, an abundance of aromas and flavors all playing nicely. Alcohol well hidden for the most part.

UPDATED: FEB 19, 2020 On tap in Madison, WI The first of many world class drafts, this pour demonstrates what makes the Goose Island Bourbon County series a top seller. Even at a relatively high price it delivers a fantastic experience from start to finish. I don't know that I would ever go out of my way to track down more but it was well worth the trip across town. AROMA / APPEARANCE A cool creamy caramel base sits placidly in the taster. The four ounce pour feels and looks much denser than it probably is due to the way it soaks up the light. A creamy nose takes the edges off the alcohol but the vanilla, sherry, and warm boozy aspects still present an imposing presence. FLAVOR / PALATE Cool caramel chews soaked in sherry and vanilla beans work their way into the corners of the mouth. The warmth radiates outwards until it finds a path to the back of the throat. The glowing finish mellows with time making this heavy but drinkable. A creaminess definitely marks it as more English style than New World. Overall this excellent release is one I could have happily kept drinking if not for the rest of the line up that evening.