Pitch black, thick, moderate to small dark tan creamy head, moderate lasting and nice lacing. Aroma is chocolate, roasted malt, strong dark fruit and licorice, coffee. Taste is moderate sweet milk chocolate, dark chocolate, dark fruit, licorice, roasted malt, burnt toast, dry bitter coffee finish and aftertaste. Some alcohol warmth. Full bodied, silky, low to moderate carbonation. Woooosh! (0,355l bottle Beerightback, Nova Gorica, SLO)

From tap. Black color with brown head. Roasted malty aroma, chocolate, caramel, coffee, light vanilla, some smoked notes. Sweet and bitter taste like aroma with light dark fruity notes. Full silky sticky body with soft carbonation.

Bottle at tasting. Black oily pour. Good aroma of chocolate, coffee and roast. Rich taste of roasted coffee, thick choco, bitter passion fruit, peach and some cinnamon. Fantastic.

A- Soy sauce, woody, licorice, chocolate syrup, mocha, subtle vanilla, roasty, burnt caramel, smoke, complex. A- Black color, black liquid, brown head. T- Soy sauce, dark chocolate, mocha, roasty, slightly bitter, subtle woodiness, slight char, very complex. P- Full body, average texture, average carbonation, robust finish. O- Wowza. Kept my bottle around not on purpose but just because I kept wanting to save it a little longer and a littler bit longer after that. Finally decided I needed to open it and with over 1.5 years of age on it there is no doubt this ages better than most supermodels. So much going on in the aroma I could hardly list everything I was picking up. Soy sauce and char definitely took a stronghold on the aroma and palate but it was quite robust and complex in every way. Still I prefer the Breakfast Stout, and I am drooling at the thought of opening my KBS. Founders continues to dominate the RIS world.

’Popular’ American impy with very dark mahogany colour, only revealing itself around the edges, otherwise plain black; coarse and irregular, deep brownish beige head, breaking open but retaining well around the edges and leaving a thin beige veil over the beer. The nose is rich, ethereal, deep and powerful and makes me happy immediately: lots of roastedness and smokiness, with suggestions of caffe latté, cured meat, wet leather, old-fashioned candi syrup, vanilla, bayleaf, meat broth, molasses, brown rhum, cocoa, bourbon, sherry, raisins... No off-flavours whatsoever. Dense candied onset, refined, candied dates, chocolate fondant and a faint hint of salty soy sauce, obviously thick and oily mouthfeel, smooth and velvety with the appropriate soft carbo, sherryish and caramelly middle phase, strong coffeeish roasted bitterness showing up early and lining the mouth cavity, spicy bitter chocolate ’à gogo’, finish further ’bittered’ by peppery hops supporting the roasted malts, smoky touch, very long and dry with an important whisky-like alcohol effect, though it somehow remains elegant and simply warming for a long time, without becoming burning at any point; a ’fat’ black chocolate and coffee, lightly sweetishly bitter ’roastedness’ sticks to the throat along with a deeply meaty umami taste. From the nose to the finish, this brew shows a beautiful ’parcours’ evolving from sweet to bitter. Great and completely flawless stout, but I hadn’t expected anything less from these guys, actually. Since this is quite easily available - at least in comparison with the legendary ’whales’ in this style - I highly recommend this to anyone trying to get acquainted with the concept of imperial stout. It has the same demanding, thick and multi-layered flavour and texture as any good impy, as well as the impressive looks (viscous, black and sitting under a creamy brown head, like an Irish coffee). I remember falling in love with this particular style after tasting a vintage Courage, but this one surely has the same noblesse, if not more.

355 ml bottle, from the Norwegian importer. ABV is 10.5%, 90 IBU. Pitch black colour, impressive brown head. Roasty aroma, roast malts, strong coffee, dark chocolate, liquorice, tar, wood and a hint of smoke. Rich mouthfeel. Medium sweet and rich flavour, roast malts, liquorice and strong coffee galore, bitter hops in the finish. High "Wow!" factor.