Real Ale Sisyphus

I always look forward to the release of Real Ale's outstanding Barleywine. So much so, that I immediately go out and buy a bunch of bottles so that one day in the future I can do a multi-year vertical and see how well these things hold up. But that tasting is for later, today we talk about the most recent vintage of Sisyphus.
The Beer: It pours an orangish copper with a good dense head of off white foam. The nose is hoppy, citrus, grapefruit, raisins, malty. The mouthfeel is full bodied, hoppy, grapefruit peel, balanced with strong caramel malty flavors. Raisins, vanilla, toffee, almost a bourbony quality. There is a slight metallic taste to the beer. Sticky. It works towards balancing hoppy with malty sweetness. I must say that this vintage is not my favorite, but I will be interested to see how well this holds up. This one gets a B from me.