Vintage 2008. 750mL bottle, pours black with a small tan head. Aroma is fairly typical of an impie, with dry roasted malts, some dry powdered cocoa and some dark fruits. Flavour is huge on the dark fruits upfront, unusually, very low roast, some liqueur, and some slight oxidation qualities. Quite a boozy finish. Light-to-medium bodied for the style. Too much of the fruitiness is prominent, drowning out the more desirable roasted characteristics, in my opinion. I think this is overrated.

750 ml bottle shared by Adam Jackson. Vintage 2009. 47 of 450 bottled. Nice looking in the snifter. Beige head, deep brown / borderline black in color. Head died real fast, barely showing retention.  The biggest aroma is black licorice, along with burnt malt and a touch of powdered chocolate.  Mouthfeel is real flat.  To me the licorice seems to dominate, with notes of chocolate, raisins and mild coffee bitterness.  No ABV showing. Really well made but for sure need a fresher vintage to compare. 

2009 Vintage 750ML. Bottle 47 of 450. Poured into a Hill Farmstead globe stem at cellar temp (61 Degrees F) Shared with some great friends! I bought this from a guy doing a cellar cleaning. Paid $50 for it.

A - The cork popped with a minimal excitement but still carbonation which made me hopeful. Cork looked pretty dried out. Poured a very dark brown to black. NOT pitch black as expected. One finger coffee coloured head that faded very slowly. Head comes right back up witha glass swirl. Nice legs and lacing.

S - Smells standard but with a lot of depth. Licorice and unsweetened dark chocolate. Honey and cloves. Really earthy dead leaf scents.

T - This is big. Coffee and High Cocoa chocolate bars. Burnt caramel and figs. VERY roasted taste. Super intense roasted taste. Semi-Campfire taste at the finish but it’s minimal. Overall, Liquorice dominates this beer and there’s just a slight hint of oxidation. It’s not huge but it makes for a very present bitterness at the finish.

M - 40% carbonation. Heavy body. Very slick and oxidized bitter finish.

O - I would have preferred to have this a year out. It’s certainly not as great now as it would have been fresh. it’s the oldest Imperial stout I’ve had and it’s still very drinkable but fresh would have been MUCH different. Must get a recent brew re-rate.

Weicher, tief malzig-schokoladiger Beginn. Würzig, vollmundig, geringe Süße, perfekt ausgewogen. Zum Ende leichte, nicht störende Alkoholnoten. Rundes, herrlich malziges Bier. 9/11/12/11/11/12

pitch dark, smooth dark brown head. mild roasted malty and boozy aroma, as it warms up, more roasted malts. flavor is roasted malts, licorice, wood, palate is thick, a good thick imp. stout, lots of roasted aftertaste, sweet roasted aftertaste. thanks madsberg for sharing.