Skeleton Key
Bellwoods Brewery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦
Stout - Pastry / Flavoured - Imperial Regular|
Score
7.68
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A Bellwoods take on spiced rum, this imperial stout was aged for a year in rum barrels with a melange of ginger, all spice, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, and juniper berries. What has emerged is a refined, smooth, warming, and lethally delicious spiced stout that’ll induce sharp pangs of nostalgia long after your final bottle is empty. And though it’s our highest alcohol beer to date, you’ll find the beauty is in the balance.
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7.6/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 6.5
500ml bottle (thx, Peter K.!). Vintage 2016. Pours an almost black with a dark brown head. Aroma is some barrel notes, sugary, fruity notes. Taste is sweet, burnt sugar. Some barrel and chocolate notes aftertaste. Not bad, despite this one is a burnt sugar bomb. Not a fan. Again. Looks like Bellwoods stouts are not my thing.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Apr 2017
at 01:26
7.1/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Bottle. Pours opaque black, small brown head, dissipates fairly quickly, decent lacing. Aroma is molasses, rum. Flavor is light plus sweet, medium bitter, light rum notes. Medium body, soft mouthfeel. Not really doing it for me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Mar 2017
at 22:47
8.5/10
Tried
on 21 Oct 2016
at 12:31
8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bellwoods Skeleton Key 2016 Imperial Stout BA 12 months in Rum barrels. It’s an inky black with a rusty tan head and a powerful aroma of rum, molasses and thick chocolate. Thick bodied with a super smooth round mouthfeel. Awesome flavor of cacao nibs, rum, cinnamon, cloves, seriously like drinking the carribean. Excellent brew. This was a WoW beer.
Tried
on 06 Sep 2016
at 22:51
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle at RBSG PGH 2016 Grand Tasting. Dark brown color. Aroma of licorice. Taste has burnt coffee and cocoa. Nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Jul 2016
at 19:45
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
dark black, reddish hues. looks nice in the glass. oooh that’s nice. a chocolate cake w/ rum topping. loads of rum really coating the tongue. meringue, cream, a lot of fresh espresso and finish is bitter with baker’s chocolate. really impressive. I can’t get enough of these imperial stouts.
Tried
from Can
on 23 Jul 2016
at 00:55
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle at RSBG Grand Tasting. Pours black with small beige head. The aroma is roast, wood, rum. Thick, chewy, roast, coconut, very sweet, good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Jul 2016
at 19:32
6/10
Tried
on 16 Jul 2016
at 17:33
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle - Lots of nice rum notes, touch of chocolate. Jet black and brown with a small beige head. Light sweetness, rum and barrel notes with a sweet toasty note. Very nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Jun 2016
at 17:11
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Brown bottle, 500 ml, 2016 vintage, via Billy Hamilton (thank you!), savoured on June 6 2016; eye: black, opaque, good dark brown head that turns into a ring, slight lacing; nose: dark chocolate, coffee, slight rum, slight spices, light alcohol, slight caramel, molasses; mouth: dark chocolate, coffee, light rum, slight spices, alcohol, alcohol warmth, light caramel, light smoke, slight burnt barley, molasses, finale in coffee with good presence of rum, full body, below-average carbonation, mildly sweet, slightly bitter, silky and alcoholic texture; overall: nice surprise FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 500 ml, millésime 2016, via Billy Hamilton (thank you!), savourée le 6 juin 2016; œil : noire, opaque, bonne mousse brun foncé qui se transforme en un anneau, très légère dentelle; nez : chocolat noir, café, très léger rhum, très léger épices, léger alcool, très léger caramel, mélasse; bouche : chocolat noir, café, léger rhum, très léger épices, alcool, chaleur d’alcool, léger caramel, léger fumé, très léger orge brûlée, mélasse, finale en café avec bonne présence de rhum, corsée, carbonatation sous la moyenne, moyennement sucrée, très légèrement amère, texture soyeuse et alcoolique; en résumé : belle surprise
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Jun 2016
at 16:50