Score: 97/100 – World-Class
From a 341ml bottle served warm at 18 degrees Celsius into a TeKu glass. Bottled on 2021-12-02 – taking this right up to the 6 month mark in age.
I picked up a whole bunch of these from a local grocery store due to an enticing sale… pretty much the only beer I’ve been drinking for the last two weeks. I rummaged through my breview list and discovered I haven’t written about this so here it goes.
Appearance 6/6
The beer pours a brilliant deep copper with 5cm of creamy, dense, tan head which dissipates into a solid cap within 4+ minutes. Exceptional lacing with great head retention – especially for the style. This is as beautiful as any beer will ever get.
Aroma 23/24
Strong intensity with great balance. The powerful aroma is perfumy as it is deep.
Strong malt presence of toasted bread, mild caramel, and even biscuit. Mild butterscotch note with significant dried fruit (figs) and a bit of orange marmalade. Low resinous pine with perfumy alcohol and mild herbaceous characteristics.
The dry nose is malty-sweet with notes of caramel, dried fruit, toasted bread, and mild herbs. Tremendous complexity.
Flavour 39/40
Follows the aroma with strong intensity, good balance, and aggressive perceived bitterness.
The daring palate opens up with notes of candied fruit, alcohol, and butterscotch making way for a fierce center where the initially sweet palate is pierced with resinous pine, ample booze, herbaceous tones, and grapefruit peel.
The long finish is strong and balanced with notes of pine, mild caramel, toasted bread, grapefruit peel, herbaceous tones, and alcohol.
Mouthfeel 10/10
Medium-full body with low carbonation. The mouthfeel is round, slick, and mouth-coating with notable alcohol warming and a medium-sweet finish. No astringency or harshness even though this beer has a high impact on the palate.
Overall 19/20
Dieu du Ciel’s Solstice d’Hiver is a world-class barleywine.
Extraordinarily attractive appearance and an impressive aroma lead into a muscular palate with striking flavour depth and an impactful mouthfeel. This is a sledgehammer of a beer and not for the faint of heart. There are no obvious oxidized characteristics which I find very surprising after 6 months of age. My intuition tells me this would develop exceptionally well over the years.
DDC’s Solstice d’Hiver is an all around awesome beer easily competing with the best in the category. The only thing it’s missing is a certain wow-factor, which is covered when you toss it in bourbon barrels. A must-try. Superb work by the brewing team.
