Full name of tasted sample is "St. Bernardus Prior 8 Cuvée 2002", exlusively bottled in 75cl bottles with screenprint. No real indication of different recipe, even tweaking, of the original as in the 33cl. It has a dark-brown colour, as left over strong tea, with a creamy head, that is not lasting. Nose: candi sugar, roasted malts, something like fresh mint or sage leaf, woody. Taste: first like wet brown sugar, but overlying bitterness takes over; some hops, some dark malts. Again shrubwood, mouldy-in-a-nice-way aroma. A little liquorice, perfumey. balance between bitterness and sweet nearly perfect. Mouthfeel: quite chewy. Alcohol is definitely there. Aftertaste: long, perfumed diminishing of main taste.

23 June 1978: a milestone in the history of special beers. That day a Cuvée de Ciney Brune was drawn for the first time in café "Rubens", underneath the church tower of the pleasant Walloon village of Ciney. It was Roger Demarche who designed this beer and toured the region to sell the first barrels. The beer was successful and soon developed from a local beer into a national asset. Its success meant that in 1980 a crisp blonde beer joined the powerful brunette. Halfway the 1980s this top-class beer was perfected and was known from then on as Ciney. In 1986 the range was further extended by the addition of the amber-coloured Ciney Spéciale. Now that Ciney is part of Alken-Maes it will get every opportunity to satisfy consumers throughout the country. Ciney Blonde is a high-fermentation beer staying clear at low temperatures unlike other special blonde beers. A mild and pure blonde beer, with a fruity flavour set off by a well-balanced pleasant bitterness. Alc. 7 % vol.