Black Butte XXX

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 6/14/2018. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky khaki head with awesome retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, toasted oak, nuts, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of coffee, molasses, licorice, raisin, plum, cherry, fig, date, red apple, smoke, char, herbal, grass, and roast/toast/oak earthiness. Touch of booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, oak barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, toasted oak, nuts, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of coffee, molasses, licorice, raisin, plum, cherry, fig, date, red apple, smoke, char, herbal, grass, and roast/toast/oak earthiness. Mild herbal/grassy hop, roasted bitterness; and oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, toasted oak, nuts, dark/brown bread, light dark fruit/smoke/char, herbal, grass, and roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, oak barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with an awesome roast/hop bitter/sweet balance; and no cloying/acrid flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/roast bitterness and oak spiciness. Medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and lightly sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mildly increasing warmth of 13.6%, with no booze lingering after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic imperial porter! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, oak barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mildly bitter/spicy/drying finish. Very rich and well rounded malt complexity, great oak barrel integration; restrained/complementing fruity yeast, and balancing earthy hops against sweetness. A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on style example as expected. Right on par with pretty much all of the releases I've had. Highest in ABV so far.

Bottled June 14th. Just showed up in Casper.

It pours black with just a hint of red hues, small tannish head of foam, lacing is good.

Cocoa and the oak front and center, roasty with dark fruits. Boozy like hell.

Cocoa, oak slash barrel, roasted malt, dark pitted fruits..figs and plums, raisins, big booze, sip sliding away. Not very sweet, bitter from the cocoa. Warming after every sip.

Not quite full bodied, adequate carbonation.

Excellent sipper and I will get more.

650 ml bottle. Pours a dark brown color with a medium grey light brown head. A big oak and chocolate nose. Huge beer, tastes like 17%!. Ashy, licorice, oak, sweet chocolate, bitter, really hot, beastly. Damn good. I think that this will get good ratings, but it is more of a winter brew. Or Fall. Damn nice.