8.8

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

330ml. bottle. @In de Vrede, Westvleteren (Belgium). 07/09/2022 [#5.382 Global - #218 Belgium - #3 Abdij St. Sixtus - Westvleteren] 2022 bottle - Pours brown with a tan head. Aroma: nuts, toffee, caramel and dried fruits. Taste: nuts, chocolate, caramel and sweet malts. Rich and sweet mouthfeel. Excellent. 2017 Bottle - Gifted by @tderoeck, many thanks. To compare with the fresh 2022 tasted today at the source. This has much more liquorice and molasses. Light boozy. Next one please!

9

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Bottle from a crate ordered at the abbey. Bottled: 27/04/2022. Consumed: 06/2022 - hardly two months old. Finally, the world-famous Westvleteren XII has made it to my home and what better way to add my rating than with a young example? Obviously, I'm looking forward to drinking aged examples in the coming years...
Pours a hazy dark amber to brown with a stable, foamy, tan head. Very expressive aroma of tawny port, red wine, wood, red apple slices, dried banana, pear, overripe blue plum, brown bread, baker's yeast, artisan milk chocolate, chestnut. Taste has a sweet estery mix of blue plum, red apple, dried banana & raisin in a thick brown-bready, slightly toasty, somewhat chocolatey malt body with a hint of candi sugar, but never in a cloying way, surrounded by a spicy and a dry-yeasty note, and even a sourish dark-fruity streak. The herbal & peppery hoppy finish offers more dried & candied fruits, spices and 'dry' brown bread and even a very vague hint of coffee. The whole is topped off with a noble, vinous warmth of brandy-like alcohol. Medium to full body, creamy-moussy texture, average carbonation (toning down when warming up). Evidently, it's hard to approach this beer unbiasedly, but its powerful character slowly but surely reveals itself, leaving you without a doubt that it's a masterpiece.

7

Koolzuur overheerst, wel lekkere quadrupel

9

Always solid

8

Thanks Chris C.