33 cl bottle. Finest Belgian Beers.

Lot L2006 02369

26/10/2022

Turbid brown, murky Duddel like pour, with a decent but poorly maintained head.

Nose offers a few, light fruit, and bitter notes. Something similar breaks across the plate early. This smooths out over the course of the bottle, and really becomes quite sweet. If one concentrates it is possible to pick out a touch of nutmeg, and little prickly carbonation, and some deeper plum like fruit, but this is one of the those odd times when the sum of the parts is LESS than the individual pieces. The reverse of, ‘greater than the sum of its parts’! Caramel sweetness is there of course, but this feels a day late and a dollar short in just about every way.

Despite the sweetness, things dry out the mouth a bit once I’m done. Peculiar. Alcohol is very well hidden, and I would never guess this was 9%. I mean it’s a little boozy, but it doesn’t feel that high to me.

It’s a little thin all round.

If I’m honest, a bit disappointing. I have high hopes for seasonal Belgians, and used to have the same expectation for Abbaye des Roc as a whole, but things have changed a bit with them over the years. Pretty average to be honest. A shame.