8.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

12 ounce bottle into snifter, 2018 vintage bottling. Pours dense dark brown/black color with a thin foamy tan head with poor retention, that reduces to a minimal ling of lace pretty quickly. Minimal spotty lacing on the glass, with some light streaming carbonation. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, toffee, vanilla, whiskey, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, dark bread/crust, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, pine, light coconut, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Increasing booze in the aromas as it warms, but not too overwhelming. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/black/roast/bready malts, whiskey barrels, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with big strength. Taste of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, toffee, vanilla, whiskey, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, dark bread/crust, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, pine, light coconut, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Light-moderate pine, herbal, floral, grassy, roast/char bitterness; and whiskey/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, licorice, dark fruit, toffee, vanilla, whiskey, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, dark bread/crust, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, whiskey barrels, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with a great hop/char bitter/sweet, and whiskey/oak spiciness balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness, whiskey/oak spiciness, and spicy alcohol. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a very creamy/silky/bready, and fairly sticky/chalky/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Smooth slow sipper; lightly increasing warmth of 17.4%, and lingering barrel booze. Overall this is a fantastic barrel aged imperial stout. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, whiskey barrels, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mellowly bitter/tannic/drying finish. Fantastic balance of super rich malts and barrel presence/integration; solid hops, restrained fruity yeast. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering bitter/tannic drying. Considering the ABV, this did well. Not nearly as impressive as the base beer. Fruitier/boozier with no dessert-like malt complexity. Still impressive otherwise.