Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo - Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)

GilGarp

Colorado

4.6/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

I love the story behind this beer. There are so many barrel aged beers on the shelves today - everything from bourbon to chardonay - but this beer was aged in beer barrels! What a novel idea.

Served cool into the ol' Watou glass, Stingo is a hazy redish brown color with head that develops only when poured right down the middle. It settles quickly leaving no lace. This all seems about right for the style.

Aroma is classic English old ale. Lots of sweet dark fruits, brown bread, caramel, vanilla from the oak, and so on.

Flavor is intense too. This is one impressive beer! Samuel Smith has always been underappreciated and I think this one makes the strongest case for that. Dates, plums, raisins, caramel... all mingling together in an oakey wonderland. Sweet without being cloying, intense without going over the top, and full of nuances that make every sip a new discovery.

Mouthfeel is medium to full with low carbonation. Really pleasant sipper.

Overall a fantastic beer! I need to go out and get some more!

Serving type: bottle

08-23-2010 01:42:58 | More by GilGarp

Impfan

Washington

4.6/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Nothing like the Watney's Stingo of old. The color is a particularly refractive cognac/amber, and there are esters of raisin, plum, cherry, treacle, toffee, vanilla, plum pudding in hard sauce, and oak. The body is medium and oily, and the flavor and carbonation are very soft. It's a sweet brew, on balance, but never cloying, with just enough flowery hop dryness in the finish, and a lot of finesse.

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2010 18:58:39 | More by Impfan

DrDemento456

Pennsylvania

4.6/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Never had a Samuel Smith beer I didn't like. Big thanks to OneDropSoup for the 6 dollar hookup.

A - A solid half inch of head with a light pour and this beer is lively and full of carbonation. A pretty hazy amber with no sediment. Off to a great start.

S - Slight bourbon notes with a strong oak base and an underlying caramel sweetness. Strong and pleasant smell.

T - Wow very little if any actual ABV burn. All the flavors of wood, bourbon and caramel meld together in one of the smoothest old ales I ever drank even more-so than aged Hibernation ale. You get Sweet and then bitter oak and finishes sweet again with little hop or grain bitterness to speak of. Truly a one of a kind beer!

M - Even for 9 percent mouth feel is medium and creamy. The only part you notice the ABV is after the first glass!

D - Man if I ever saw this in a store at a reasonable price (6-8 dollars) I would pick it up so quickly. Sadly the only place close by is trying to squeeze 12 dollars a bottle for the rarity. Another solid brew by Samuel Smith. Thanks again OneDropSoup for the amazing beer!

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2011 01:19:57 | More by DrDemento456

Greywulfken

New York

4.6/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

2010 bottle date with an 8.0% abv; slow-poured (per instructions on bottle; to avoid inclusion of the yeast in the bottle) into an Ommegang glass (somewhere between a footed pilsner and a tulip).

A: amber brown body, creamy beige finger of head

S: light, bright oakiness and darker, sweet toffee

T: some lightly boozed dark fruit, molasses and bread pudding; wood/oak notes and raisins

M: leans more toward sweet than dry; moderate carbonation, medium weight; great aftertastes

O: a great holiday beer - would go so well with Christmas goose or a Thanksgiving pumpkin or pecan pie; this is a real treat of a beer with a lot of flavors. I may have benefitted from this being an aged bottle - it was very mellow and easy-drinking.

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2012 16:16:54 | More by Greywulfken

NStLincoln

Nebraska

4.55/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a reddish amber, slightly hazy with a creamy white tan head that bubbles down to a thin film rather quickly.

Caramel is the #1 flavor here, like those squares you use for cooking, but there is a lot more too this nose. Some nice black cherry, some decomposed earth, and a touch of sweet pipe tobacco.

Starts sweet with pumpkin spice and then transitions beautifully to waves of oaky caramel. The slightest hint of alcohol relents to a lasting tobacco finish. The oak is woven into every fruit and candy flavor.

Nice carbonation, want to go back for another drink to find more flavors.

Serving type: bottle

12-10-2010 02:55:29 | More by NStLincoln

jjchristiano

New Jersey

4.55/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I read a review on this beer in Draft magazine. And the rating system at the Total Wine store gave this beer a perfect 100 rating.
Thought it was outstanding and a great compliment to the stuffed lobster dinner I was having.
But it did remind me of some of the regional offerings like the Yard's Revolution Series or the Harpoon Leviathan. Big alcohol and malty character. This is a style I really enjoy especially when I'm sipping just one from my oversive Duvel tulip with a great meal.
It was somewhat expensive at $12 for a 550ml bottle so I don't know that I'll be buying regularly but I'm glad I treated myself to one tonight for my birthday.

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2013 02:48:01 | More by jjchristiano

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

4.53/5  rDev +10%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Purchased through online order from the Beers of Europe, a UK based beer shop; this bottle was brewed in 2007, BB 12/2009, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass. NOTE: this ale is aged in old oak barrels for more than a year before bottling! Also, the ingredients include cane sugar.

A: pours an ultra-elegant ruby-russet colour like a cup of lightly-infused black tea, coming with semi-lively but fine fizziness as witness to the natural work of bottle-conditioning, while the 2cm-thick, beige creamy froth retains the perfectly tight texture throughout the drink. Marvellous.
S: true to an English Old Ale (or old Barley Wine), the aroma features rich caramel-, amber- and/or brown-malts, underlined by a bucketful of complex, sour-sweet & also savoury fruitiness (to name a few: sour prunes, sour grapes, sour raisins, dried black cherries, black dates, dried Chinese hawthorn-fruits...), while a lightly lactic-sour woodiness as of oak-barrel ageing (not unlike its counterpart in Belgium - Flanders Brown Ale) provides a nice nuance in the background. Overall, the sour elements are so enjoyable and never astringent, providing a "refreshing" whiff even to help lighten the dense sweetness. (As the beer warms up a bit, an aromatic edge of Styrian Goldings is given away... or so I guess!)
T: a mouthful of rich preserved fruits comes almost "perfumy" (but not in the same fashion as any Belgian ale) yet a tad vinous as well, featuring a soothing flavour of dried-herb/licorice-flavoured red prunes with a restrained level of sourness slightly reminiscent of a (less sweet) Malmsey Madeira. The foretaste is laced with a fine touch of pale & amber malts (yes, like SS' Old Brewery Bitter!) and the kind of chewy woodiness & herbal sweetness that I usually find in the aftertaste of a well-aged Oloroso sherry. In the finish, the slightly powdery-textured hop bitterness tunes up a level (albeit w/o much hop aroma) with a fine spicy edge as well, rounding up the whole palate skilfully and satisfyingly.
M&D: being aged in SS' beer oak-barrels means that this is not the type of big, oaky/vanilla-ish, honey-ish or peaty whisky-barrel aged ales that are leading the beery fashion of late; rather, the oak-ageing here enriches the flavour in a conventional manner, where the sweet edge of malts is greatly softened by the attack of sour elements accumulated in the oak barrels through decades of service, showing the similar kind of smooth woodiness to the brewery's Old Brewery Bitter (not in the same way as Wadworth's 6X - more aromatic & sweet-woody, or Marston's Pedigree - more sulphurous). Importantly, through the ageing process, the alcoholic content has been totally tamed - what ends up in the glass is a truly mellow malt wine for my palate, benefiting a lot from the creamy carbonation, too. This "Old Barley Wine" has some really lovely finesse that requires patience to unwrap and fresh palate to appreciate. Just give it a try! (* Beware of the price, though, as I paid almost 6 quid for this bottle...)

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2009 19:49:55 | More by wl0307

digr

Massachusetts

4.53/5  rDev +10%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

A- Brown liquid that pours to create a large 4+ cm head of light brown medium to large bubbles. The foam lingers for quite sometime (3+minutes) slowly breaking down.

- A most interesting smell, a slight hint of vinegar and fruitiness and a slight hint of mustiness with an overall toasted malty warmth. No real hop aroma.

T - Mild flavor, brown malt flavors and a mild hint of sourness, but only as an after thought. Just enough hops to balance the malt flavor complements the hind of sour. No notice of the 8% ABV.

M - good- appropriate for the drink. Medium - which works with the profile of the style. After a few moments there is a "dryness" left that makes you looking for the next sip.

D - Very. Despite the 8% ABV I found this 550 ml bottle disappearing quickly. I really like sours and old ales and this is a fine example of an old style brew that deserves plenty of modern attention!

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2009 06:08:31 | More by digr

firkinhophead

Georgia

4.53/5  rDev +10%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

550 ml bottle poured into a snifter.

pours a deep burnished orange with a fizzy khaki head that settles quickly to a thin ring with a bit of random filminess. No lacing.

Nose is fruity with a bit of warm spice and alcohol. Cherry and vanilla, with a vague cinnamon/ginger note. Some orchard fruit (apricot, green apple) as well. very aromatic and suggestive of an aperatif. Refined and inviting.

Taste is fruity out of the gate, with fresh tart apple, black cherry, a hint of orange rind. Graham cracker-like malt and a touch of toffee. Herbal hops and some woodiness dry out the middle and hold through the finish with some cognac and whiskey notes lingering afterward. Very clean and crisp, with no overbearing sweetness or off-putting astringency. The fruity notes seem almost 3-D, if that makes sense. So close you can pluck them off the trees--apricot, apple, a bit of red grape, cherry, tangerine--but without the juiciness of the fruit itself, just their earthy, estery essences. Wonderful.

Mouthfeel is lean, but not thin. Somewhat vinous. Smooth, but muscular, with an appropriate alcohol presence. Carbonation is moderate, and tingles on the back of the palate for a satisfying fullness.

Moreish, as the Brits say. A sipper, but one you'll go back to sip after sip looking for another nuance. I wish I had a fireplace and a fur rug right now. One of the best English ales I have had, right up there with Fuller's 1845. Remarkable.

Serving type: bottle

10-30-2009 05:09:22 | More by firkinhophead

NJBeerguy

New Jersey

4.53/5  rDev +10%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Wow, another of those barrel aged beers, I want to lay down and revisit later. It starts out with a beautiful pour, at least it did for me (in a british pub glass) with a fluffy tan to off white head. The sad part is the head dissipates all too quickly. The nose is the strong smell of whiskey all imparted from the oak this really was in a barrels for a long time, the label says a year, the taste says longer. The nose alone inparts warmth, with traces of vanilla, and malt, very mindful of whiskey or a fine scotch. The flavor is great but you better like spirts for this is the "taste". The beer has a wonderful whiskey
finsh aftertaste that lingers just long enough for my tongue to say take another sip. I looked forward to trying this beer for a while having seen it advertised last year but unable to find it. Its initial batch appears to have been made in limited supply. Now having had the opportunty to have had a try, I'll be heading out to the store tomorrow for more, if there's any left. If you like the warmth of alcohol and scotch by all mean try this beer, pricey (at $11.00) but worth it! One last note I purchased this bottle in Nov. 2011 the lable says it's 8% ABV description above says 9% ABV. ABV may have changed between 2010 & 2011 take note.

Serving type: bottle

11-24-2011 06:38:02 | More by NJBeerguy

essie

Colorado

4.5/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured into a Leffe chalice. Nice red body with a creamy head that dissipates pretty quickly.

Smells of malt caramelization with fruit and a tiny bit of oak. In some ways, it reminds me of an oude bruin or one of the more fruity styles of dubbel.

Taste is like the aroma, but much more complex. Fruit, raisins and caramelized malts are the most dominant, but there's also a subtle oakiness and roasted malt presence in there too. The finish is somewhat dry, with a grassy hoppiness that works well but was unexpected given the style.

Mouthfeel is full and creamy without being cloying or too thick, and the carbonation is great.

This is definitely a sipper, so drinkability is somewhat limited (as expected).

Overall, I found this to be a fantastically complex beer that is perfectly balanced and has a lot of unique flavors going on. Whereas many oak-aged beers I've tried have been overpowering, the oak here takes a back seat and provides a wonderful background for all the other flavors. I'd definitely recommend giving it a try if you can get over the high price.

Serving type: bottle

08-31-2009 05:00:58 | More by essie

Beerenauslese

California

4.5/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Stingo means "old beer" that is sharp or strong.
Pours a golden amber brown with a decent head, and a little hazy.
Smells of butterscotch and raisins and a little horseblanket.
The taste is a bit acetic and astringent at the start, and then additional flavors of butterscotch and spice kick in, with a black/green peppercorn finish and a lingering note of vanilla and oak.
The mouthfeel is soft and full with substantial effervescence. It is a palate cleanser, but one that ends with a butterscotch candy coating.
This is a distinctive and unique beer that is very enjoyable and drinkable. It is sharp and somewhat strong as the name implies.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2009 01:56:44 | More by Beerenauslese

Rayek

Colorado

4.5/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Poured into a snifter.

A: A careful pour yielded a cloudy burnished bronze beer. A generous and soapy amber tinted cap recedes fairly quickly to a thin film. Leaves just a little bit of lace.

S: Pretty fruity. Grape and strawberry really stand out. Behind them are aromas of toffee, leather and tobacco. Alcohol adds a white wine quality.

T: The green grape from the nose is front and center. Toffee and tobacco flavors are more subdued, but still quite present. An earthy pepper and black tea bitterness provides nice balance. The alcohol gives off a nice warmth to the finish. Ends very dry and white wine like

M: The medium-heavy body is dry and slightly sticky. Carbonation could stand being a touch lower.

D: Letting this beer warm up really does the trick. I let it cool a bit too long in the fridge, which stunted its flavors. The more it warmed, the better it got. A most excellent accompaniment to a cold and snowy night.

Serving type: bottle

11-15-2009 00:41:28 | More by Rayek

DavidST

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 550ml bottle into a Smith pint glass, unknown bottled date. This pours a nice copper color with a large slowly dissipating tan head. The smells are plum full of malts goodness, lots of toffee, some molasses and a little caramel, wonderful. The feel Is medium to heavy. The taste is malts greatness, loads of toffee, caramel, a little bitterness, good stuff.

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2012 04:39:13 | More by DavidST

seanyfo

United Kingdom (Scotland)

4.48/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

550ml bottle served into standard pint glass

BBE June 2012

A- Chestnut brown body with excellent clarity. 3 finger creamy tan head has good retention and lacing considering abv.

S- Hint of almonds, some madeira cake sweetness, milk chocolate but a more vinous raisin like note comes through to take slight domination as i fill my lungs

T- Hint of Christmas pudding richness alongside the sweeter madeira cakelike note balances with some toasted malt and this almost sour vinous raisin note coming through in the finish providing surprisingly excellent balance. Very smooth indeed, no hint of alcohol

M- Its full bodied with a moderate carbonation.

D- More balanced than expected, didnt expect this almost sour raisin vinous like note at all. Lovely sweetness provides excellent complexity. Dangerously drinkable!!

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2012 22:57:46 | More by seanyfo

karait95

Mexico

4.48/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: Dark amber almost reddish, body looks bold but with rich carbonation, head is not too impressive but dissipates slowly but not many traces are left behind on the glass, color is light brown and a permanent layer remains on top of the beer.

S: Balanced aroma, mainly barley and fruity, maybe some dark fruits like prunes can be identified and some hops are present but not in first line, also alcohol is present but not overwhelming.

T: Flavor is complex, nothing easy to process but this is not an easy style, it has fruits, high alcohol, malt and hops, the good thing is that is well balanced and generates a full flavor beer.

M: Complex, balanced beer, sensation is as should. Start sweet and a little bitter at the end changing slowly on the pallet, for a long ending.

This is an excellent beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2012 03:54:23 | More by karait95

canucklehead

British Columbia (Canada)

4.48/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I have has this bottle in the cellar for about 2 years and the extra age has really created a wondrous beer that is rounded yet full of flavour. The young Stingo was a bit scattered IMO but I loved this bottle. The nose is full of hops and malt but you can tell that a British brewer made it rather than the new world hops often found in North American barley wines. The finish is long and very smooth but I never felt a thinness of mouthfeel in this beer. With Thomas Hardy no longer made this might be my favourite British barley wine

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2012 23:01:35 | More by canucklehead

corby112

Pennsylvania

4.47/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a hazy dark amber/chestnut brown color with dark ruby hues when held to a light source and two finger frothy yellowish beige head that slowly fades into a lasting cap.

Earthy oak aroma with a nice leathery malt presence along with some dark fruit notes, alcohol and toffee. The oak notes and sweet fruit and alcohol balance out the leathery maltiness very well. Smells amazing.

Flavor is pretty similar to arom but a touch sweeter. Nice oak/vanilla notes with a nice aminut of eathry/leathery and caramel malt. Dark fruit notes; raisin, fig plum as well as some sweet alcohol and toffee. Very well balanced medium body that is very drinkable with a slight alcohol warmth in the finish. Highly recommended!

Serving type: bottle

09-12-2009 05:38:23 | More by corby112

sinstaineddemon

Connecticut

4.47/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A - pours a dark halloween orange, with a rocky finger of wheat colored head, held up to light reveals a few scant streams of carbonation

S - sweet aromas, like golden raisin, with hints of molasses, and treacle (had to look up what that was, saw it on the bottle, and it applies), slight woody/resiny aroma, but not enough that if this were a blind test i wouldnt guess that it was cask-aged....

T - ...until i tasted it, theres the woodiness, strong oaky/vanilla flavors atop a great toffee sweetness, balanced with a deeper sweetness a la the aforementioned molasses and treacle, at the end a perfectly measured hop profile to balance this from being sickly sweet

M&D - Sam Smith doesnt disappoint, a layered, smooth, complex, yet not overpowering, this is a great beer, too bad its $11 a bottle or id get it more

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2009 17:41:45 | More by sinstaineddemon

WhiteOak

Connecticut

4.47/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Glass- Riedel 6416/07

A- Copper color, expansive foam which settles flat.

S- Caramel malt, dark fruits, vanilla, yeast.

T- Diacetyl/vanillin barrel character, caramel, toffee. Sweet dried fruits: fig, date, raisin. Inviting, seductive, rich maltiness. Restrained, well integrated hops. Long, lingering malty finish.

M, D- Smooth, full, rounded flavors for a mid-weight beer. Nice, palate-coating viscosity. Perfect CO2. Wonderfully drinkable with very alluring flavors.

Comment: I consider "The Yorkshire Stingo" as a historical brewing artifact. This is what I believe a quality English brown ale was like 250 years ago, and drinking this is like a trip back in time. The methods, materials, ingredients are essentially a replica from that period, and the necessary economy then would call for the long-term reuse of expensive oak casks. These old barrels imparted a unique character, and I believe it to be shown skillfully in this brew. Good stuff!

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2010 21:57:00 | More by WhiteOak

stingrayvr6

New Jersey

4.47/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Picked this up at Stew Leonard's in Clifton, NJ. Brewed in 2009. Poured into a pint glass a murky reddish brown with a frothy cream colored head. Great retention. Smell very fruity. Sweet raisins, plums, burned sugar. Taste sweet bready malts up front, then sweet like a fruit cake, finished with some roasted barley dryness. Very complex, fantastic winter beer. Scarily smooth and drinkable for 9% abv. Definitely going to pick up a few more of these.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2010 01:09:38 | More by stingrayvr6

chodinheaven

Maryland

4.47/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Brewed in 2008, poured from a 550 ml bottle.

A hazy purplish or deep brown color with hints of orange hues around the edges. A nice full off white head on the pour that dissapates down to a covering sheet with small bubbles. Nice retention. The smell is awesome, sweet fruits like plum, dried cherries, and raisons come to mind. Not so different from certain wines in the aroma. So very aromatic and sweet on the nose that you can't wait to try it. Faint hint of oak and dark malts in the background, filling out the nose profile.

Pretty highly carbontated, which was unexpected at first but then is a pleasant surprise. Tastes of fruity esters come out and hit you in the face, all with a touch of oakiness from the barrel aging. The oakiness gives it just the right amount of edge to keep this from being cloyingly sweet. The fruits aren't necessarily all of the dried variety, and I'm surprised at how fresh this tastes after 3 years. The fruits are also backed by a very light but interesting floral hop taste that gives it a little bitterness, giving this beer some more complexity and a huge amount of character. The alcohol taste is hidden behind and in the sweetness, but is definitely detectable. It's warming however, which is always a good quality. The mouthfeel is unique in its high carbonation and crisp, dry finish.

Everything about this beer screams unique, so for that I rate it highly. It's a tad to sweet for me, but so interesting that I can't stop sipping it. The oak aging has done so well to calm the fruits down that this beer is a need to buy if seen. I think I got lucky in randomly finding it one day. Definitely worth a shot or two.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2011 03:01:16 | More by chodinheaven

djbow

Maryland

4.47/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

A - Dusky brown color. Two finger head formed then the cascading magic began...it was almost like a nitro pour was happening...after it settled a creamy, white head sat three fingers above a clear, amber body...very nice retention with sticky lacing left behind

S - A sweet nose composed of caramel, dark fruits, raisins, oak, vanilla and mild alcohol.

T - The caramel adds a lot of sweetness, but the beer never becomes overly sweet. There is toffee sweetness vanilla and oak that lingers in the background while the dark fruit comes out in the middle. Allot of flavor is packed into this beer. At the finish a bit of alcohol cleanses the pallet readying you for the next sip.

M - Medium / Full body. Smooth as glass. Just the right amount of carbonation and alcohol warmth.

O - Yorkshire Stingo is a very complex beer that lives up to its hype. It is both a big beer and light and refreshing one at the same time. I goes down smooth each and is as close to a true to a traditional style British as you can get.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2012 04:18:37 | More by djbow

Pencible

Virginia

4.45/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

2008 vintage. This poured a hazy light mahogany with some light tan head. It smelled like raisin and honey wheat, with light caramel and some toffee and delicate oak and vanilla, and a bit of nutty malt and bready yeast. It tasted like succulent caramel and candied cherries and vanilla oak, with some honey wheat and raisin. It was slightly thick with some carbonation, and had a mellow bittersweet aftertaste. Overall this was a fantastic beer, what I would consider to be the flagship for Samuel Smith. It had a great complex but subtle scent and taste that I could savor for a long time. I wish this beer had more body, but it hid the alcohol very well, so it was super easy to drink and a delight to sip. This is an old ale/barleywine that rivals Harvest Ale or Thomas Hardys, and could probably age for as many decades as those.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2010 18:44:37 | More by Pencible

bosco7

Pennsylvania

4.45/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Brewed in 2009.

Inviting appearance. Dark copper with a thick and creamy head which remains attractive even as the beer sits in the snifter for a while.

As I get a whiff of this beer I can't help to think of a carmel bread pudding and figs. There is some oak in the nose too.

Man, this thing is complex as far flavor goes. Sitting in an oak cask for a year has done this thing wonders. Starts with sweet toffee, cocoa and caramel flavors that work into really vinous and oaky flavors. Vanilla and cherry in there too. The finish has a very subtle twang. Bitterness is low.

Mouthfeel is intermediate with a nice amount of natural carbonation. There is absolutely no sign of this thing being 9% ABV so smooth and drinkable. This is the most exciting beer I've had from the UK since Meantime IPA. Highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

01-04-2011 02:25:43 | More by bosco7