Cantillon Brabantiae
This was an experience! Thanks, first of all...to Adam Harbaugh for the share @ Darkness Day 2011. Bottle-share started in the bushes away from the crowd, like a secret society(haha)! Label was pretty rough, as expected...cap was semi rusting. Removing the cork was a headache, as expected. It broke into 3 pieces. First section came out pretty easy, as the second section was punctured, the gushing began! Finally, after struggling for a few minutes with the rest of the cork, and gushing slowly the entire time...we finally just pushed what was left of the cork down into the bottle! From a distance, lambic aroma was strong! Not to be found up close... Aroma was amazing! Alright, let me explain. I didn't quite know what to expect for a 22 year old gueuze. When I got hit hard with a wave of mildew/wet old cellar...all I could think was, "duh"! What else should I expect with this kind of age. Through the mildew, a very faint lambic funk was hiding. The pour, by the way...was an orangish golden color. Very lively, and huge white fizzy head. Flavor: Fantastic gueuze! I can't believe a lambic that smells this old...could taste so fresh! Age was noticeable, but despite other reviews, this bottle had plenty of life left! The carbonation was super sharp, loads of wood and gueuze tart/funk. Not watery or too aged IMO. Our group took awe at how delicious and awesome this experience was. I would revisit this Cantillon again for sure! Of course, most know that there aren't a ton of bottles left out there. But this gives me assurance that my aging Cantillons have the chance to be this fantastic 10, 20+ years from now! Despite the aroma being the only low'er score here, this was nearly a perfect lambic!