Édition 2005
Corked and caged 750 with a production date of 11-23-04 on the back label, poured into a chalice. Deep, dark mahogany with a light tan head that is rather short in height and life. The veiled ring left behind leaves decent lace. Smells tart, dark fermented cherries, candy sugars, cloves, chalky belgian yeast and a weird medicinal alcohol aroma that is somewhat like rubbing alcohol. The alcohol is not upfront and it takes a deep sniff to detect, but its there. The mouth has an interesting pairing of sweet and sour notes after the solid malt base sets the stage. The same cherries from the nose are there, so are the sugars. The sourness turns tangy and then bitter towards the finish. The alcohol doesn't really show up but for some heat on the tip of my tongue in the aftertaste. The mouth is a little rough around the edges. I could see a couple more years could help smooth that out. Not bad by any means, but the high abv and rough mouth hurt the drinkability.