Score
6.61
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Bottled. Hazy deep amber colour with a small off-white head. Aroma is toffee, mild herbs, spices and some floral tones with mild acidity and tartness to it all as well. Flavour is fruity, floral, some yeasty, mild sourish elements with toffee too.
Cloudy brown colour with lasting head. Aroma is packed with pine and rosemary. Flavour is similar but a little more muted. Hints of dark fruits and dark malts. More interesting than it is tasty.
Dark version of Fantôme's earlier Forest Ghost so almost by definition a dark saison, 75 cl bottle with crown cap, from Être Gourmet. Very thick and rocky, pale greyish beige, cobweb-lacing, large-bubbled but stable head, murky and 'dirty' chestnut brown robe, very dark with thin ochre edges. Aroma dominated by a very strong ethereally spicy scent best likened to eucalyptus (as used in green cough syrup), strong clove and even a touch of peppermint, impressions of rosehip tea, soggy brown bread, elderberries, damp earth, dark green tree leaves, sweet cicely, spice cookies, apple peel. Estery onset, fizzy carbonation, sweetish with fig and plum notes drenched in a chestnutty, soggy maltiness, very bready and a tad soapy, nutty, with growing and eventually very strong ethereal cough syrup and Glühwein spiciness, again with eucalyptus overpowering even the clove- and peppermint-like aspects, literally opening the sinuses; touch of refreshing orange peel in the end as well, damp earthy and yeasty phenolic notes, late and leafy, effective and well-placed hop bitterness trying to tie all these aspects together - and barely managing just that. Peppery traces in the end. Classic Fantôme weirdness, my girlfriend wasn't too crazy about it, but for me it works - though that very strong eucalyptus-like aspect, even if it sets this beer apart even from other bizarre Fantôme concoctions, was obviously not necessary. Still, the flavours do come together in the end so regardless of the unusual combo of spices, I was able to enjoy it and had no issues finishing (more than) half of the bottle. One of the more interesting Fantômes I had in the past years, for sure.
Bottle - exploded upon opening - pours murky brown white head - nose and taste of banana, spice, clove, dark wheat malt and cocoa - medium body One of the worst bottle explosions I've had - ended up with about 4 ounces out of a 750ml bottle in my glass. Rest was on the floor.
Bottle. Cloudy amber brown color thin white head. Aroma of raw bread dough, damp must, dust, spice. Taste is earthy, sour, musty. Strange.