Today is my birthday...I don't share this in an attempt to get festive wishes from all of you but rather to share with you a ritual that has sadly come to an end.
About four years ago I stocked up on a then seasonal LCBO release...the quite extraordinary St.Ambroise Vintage Ale 2000. At the time I bought about 18 of them in their little cardboard sleeves and numbered bottles. As time passed and my stock dwindled I decided to hold a few back for special events...my birthday, my anniversary with my wife, the birth of our daughter. Once I got down to the last few I decided to hold them back for birthdays only.
Well here I sit drinking the last bottle of that fantastic release...numbered 9111. It has certainly aged well. Beautiful copper colour, thin lace of head in the glass, rich toffee and dried banana bread like aroma, rounded and complex taste with a sherry like finish...absolutely exquisite. As I linger over it, literally savouring every sip, I'm also deeply saddened by the demise of an old and cherished friend. No more will I be able to indulge in this now annual ritual. It will live in the memory like a summer romance...unique, fantastic and truly an experience that will be hard to forget, not that I'd want to.
So farewell to this ambrosia...with luck St.Ambroise will make it again before I'm old and grey (although at 38 I do feel old and I am certainly getting grey). It is truly one of the most exceptional barley wines I have ever had.
Looking for the original Bar Towel blog? You can find it at www.thebartowel.com.
We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
The last bottle of a legend
-
Jon Walker
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1899
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Wherever you go there you are
Funny, I just drank my last 1999 McAuslan vintage a couple days ago. Held up quite nicely.
In contrast, a 1999 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot had gone past its prime significantly.
I dont think the Fullers is anything like McAuslan Vintage, to be honest. The latter is (was) one of my favorite beers, the former I dont even care to drink at all.
In contrast, a 1999 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot had gone past its prime significantly.
I dont think the Fullers is anything like McAuslan Vintage, to be honest. The latter is (was) one of my favorite beers, the former I dont even care to drink at all.