Decadence 2010 English-Style Old Ale - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
AleSmith Brewing Company

750 mL bottle poured into a snifter. Reviewed from notes.

Appearance - Deep red. Small off white head, but not enough to really retain it.

Smell - Nice barrel. Good oak and vanilla. Not as nice as the 2008 BA Decadence barrel notes. Brown sugar and less oxidation than the regular 2010 Decadence.

Taste - Sweet malts, nice vanilla flavor followed by bourbon. Dries out a little, despite an abundance of brown sugar flavor. Lacks a little of the malt depth that the non-BA version had. Still a touch bitter.

Mouthfeel - Astringent. Nice brown sugar sweetness. Boozy but not inordinately so.

Overall - I don't know that this is significantly better than the regular version, but it's very nice. The barrel adds enough and detracts just about the same amount from the base flavors.

Opening this 15 year old bottle for Xmas eve.
Pours a deep amber with a medium white head.
There's an apparent oxidized aroma, but for me, that's not extremely detrimental. Once you get past that, there's carmel, toffee and oak.
Dark fruit and bready malts lead on the palate. Oak and bourbon are present as well.
The feel is medium. Somewhat surprising for a big, barrel aged beer, especially by today's standards.
Overall, considering it's 15 years old, I honestly am enjoying it. I imagine it probably peaked 5-10 years ago, but my regret for aging it as long as I did is not as profound as I expected earlier today.

Drank in April 2023. Too long a wait.