Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

One of Zwarte Bron's youngest creations, an imperial porter flavoured with coffee, vanilla and chocolate; bottle from Drinks4U shared with tderoeck. Thick and creamy, dense, yellowish beige head lacing in shreds over a black robe with vague mahogany glow. Strong bouquet of vanilla beans, black chocolate bars, strong toffee, cappuccino, cold Irish coffee, candied pear, dates, cinnamon rolls, fried apple, raisin, a touch of liquorice and subtle espresso in the background. Densely red-fruity, sweet onset, medlar, date and pear notes with a very thin blackberry-tinged sourish edge, softly carbonated with full, smooth, oily to creamy body. Deeply toffeeish middle with chocolatey edges, while this candied pear- and date-like fruitiness continues, into a complex finish with a dash of spicy hops (though no overt hop bitterness), thick bittersweet maltiness with a roasty coffee accent engulfed in sweetness (think latté macchiato) and this retronasal vanilla extract presence, remarkably still alive after a couple of years in the bottle. Notes of cinnamon and liquorice add further complexity while this aforementioned 'red' fruitiness persists in adding a thinly sourish accent, with a balancing, 'alleviating' effect; brandy-like alcohol warms, but behaves decently and does not interfere with the other flavours. Not sticky-sweet and not truly a 'pastry' porter or stout for me nor a true Baltic one, rather an oldskool U.S. style flavoured imperial porter (but what is in a name these days), with classic but well-applied flavourings - and not one error or imperfection in sight. Maintains a high degree of drinkability in spite of its strength, like many other of Zwarte Bron's strong beers. Another delicious and technically perfectly executed, internationally oriented craft offering, congrats Jan!