Huge fruity aroma that's almost wine-like. I can definitely smell the booze in this 18% beer. Taste has raspberries and blackberries for sure. I don't know what elderberries or boysenberries taste like, so for all I know they could be there too. Warms on the way down the throat. Very reminiscent of a strong wine. I like it, but it's definitely a sipper, which I will do. If anything changes as it warms, I'll update the review. As of now, 3.75/5 Update: still much of the same. Very wine-like. The alcohol heat has died off a good bit. They say this ages well. I may grab a bottle to cellar for a few years and perhaps try in comparison with the current year's version. 4/5