Tasting Notes: Cantillon: Grand Cru Bruocsella 2007

Cantillon: Grand Cru Bruocsella 2007(Belgium Unblended lambic: 5% ABV)

Visual: Yellowed grain. Still with no head.

Nose: Tart and sour. Very tart apples. Vinegar. Woollen scarves. Light wet rum casks. Chestnut mushrooms (initially recorded as chestnuts).

Body: Surprisingly light front. Apple cider. Dry white wine. Teeth tingling. Walnuts. Mushrooms. An acid kick as you swallow.

Finish: Lemongrass. Dry white wine finish. Dry nuttiness. Dry sherry. Kind of dry then. Light cherry touches. White grapes. Mushrooms.

Conclusion: Ok this is going to be an interesting one to write up. I have scattered notes from the start and end of the first and second glass of this, and the opinions vary as the beer shifts and turns. I have attempted to put it together into something that both encapsulates the variety of opinion this beer engenders and also try to make it at least slightly comprehensible.

Here goes.

With this beer my long term examination of Cantillon continues, with this rare example of an unblended lambic. Now my last experience of unblended lambic was a good one, and I am warming to Cantillon as the years go on. This however, initially at least, was not to my tastes.

It is a very subtle beer for the main flavour, unfortunately the main body can also seem light. The front especially seeming occasionally watery.  The back by comparison hits with an acid burn as you swallow.  This seems to be deemphasising the elements I came to enjoy in the past lambic while keeping the burn that never really appealed to me.

With further examination I can see what people enjoy in it. It has a dry nuttiness and white wine style which seems to be a result of the changing style.  It also has surprising depth at this point. It may be it takes about half a glass to build up the flavour, or it may just take time to acclimatise but the finish in particular shows an impressive slow bloom of flavour.

The main enjoyment does seem to be front and finish though.  The flavour that floats on the finish is by far superior to what you get mid body.  In  a way I find this more than most examples emphasises the dichotomy of experience with Cantillon. I can see the quality held within it that leads to it being held in such high regard. The aroma, the dry tartness, wine like qualities and the shimmering range to the finish. However this more than any other I find I enjoy more on intellectual examination that on a visceral level. The main body especially just doesn’t click in what it does with the lighter style.

Then we get to the thoughts held near the end of the drink.  By this point the finish does drag me back to it, with a dry sherry like element being added to the nuttiness that is particularly pleasant. The later realised mushroom elements (See notes later for more on that) are very interesting, if not quite what I was expecting. I still do not think this is quite the Cantillon for me, a statement that may get me some hate mail from Cantillon hardcore fans.  However even more than most Cantillons I found the examination a joy in itself more than the beer. It really is an example of something different in the craft,

Final thoughts. A fine aroma and finish, and intriguing beer, but one that does not quite hold my joy as I hold it on my tongue.

Note: I cannot claim to have come to the description of the mushroom elements myself. Remembering that  “100 Belgium beers to try before you die” had advised an accompanied tasting for this I took a look at their notes for my own enjoyment after I had finished two glasses and the vast majority of my writing.  After seeing their reference to it I realized that explained the odd aroma I couldn’t quite pin down.  I was then torn between my usual insistence on not adding to the tasting notes after looking at others thoughts and the fact that it was a very accurate description of an important element. In compromise I listed the elements and added this note here to allow for psychosomatic bias and to give correct attribution to the writers of that book

Background: Bottled early 2011, drunk early 2012.  As mentioned many a time on this blog I have an interesting relationship with Cantillion. The most dry and hardcore of lambic produces, I originally could not get along with them., Over the years I have returned to various of their bottled beers and have found them fascinating, but can never quiet decide if I like them most of the time. They are however intriguing, and I always look forwards to breaking open a bottle to see what happens this time.  This is a rare unblended lambic of three years of age.  I had tried the two year unblended on tap at the GBBF and found it very much to my taste.