$9.68 from Euro Street Market in Jacksonville Beach, FL.
The red wax on the bottle is extremely thick and a big pain in the ass to get through. 2009 vintage with the date embossed in the wax as per a seal.
The pour is pretty much un-carbonated and yields a murky, dirty brown body. Not attractive and little or no head.
Nose has an enormous amount of oak and associated liquor notes. Very good aroma.
Tastes reflect the nose and there are a lot of residual sugars, sherry notes and some warming alcohol. Nothing that surprising, but we do get a somewhat unusual, cocoa, bakers chocolate, dry finish which is not what I was expecting. It’s not really in line with the type of beer this is, but it does take the edge off the alcohol and in a strange way makes the beer more drinkable that it otherwise might be. Maple isn’t really there at all.
As it warms the oak gets bigger and bigger and bigger, but the alcohol does not build much and the dry finish never lets up. A touch of tannin like bitterness at he very back end.
Body is pretty dead, but to be honest that is somewhat expected. Not full of life!
Interesting as the beer gives massive oak but also has a few elements (dry finish and light alcohol) that I would next expect.