Pours black, thick, with a dark tan head.Nose shows soft woody oak, faint red wine notes, heacy roast, some sweet rich molassess, chocolate and toasty/bready malt.Bittersweet flavours with lots of roast countered by molasses sweetness. Some booze along with a little vanilla oak notes and a hint of bourbon. More red wine too. Very well-balanced.

Not quite as awesome as from a fresh bottle

Pours jet black with a beige head. Thick, rich and creamy texture. Liquorice, roasted malt, chocolate and coffee aromas and taste. Perfectly balanced with a slight, warming alcohol finish. Just excellent.

2013 bottle. Black with a tan head that fades but laces very well. Intense roasted malt aroma with mocha, licorice, dark berries, molasses, oak. Oily, lowish carbonation, quite silky. Lots of bittersweet chocolate, roast is fairly heavy but not as full on as suggested by the smell. Berries have a touch of sourness about them. Bourbon notes peek out but beer is _just_ about driving the show, although the fruit and barrel treatments gain prominence after a while. Bitter and quite oaky at the end. A slow drinker but not overly boozy. Excellent - just lacks a bit of inviting softness and seems slightly contrived. But excellent. Best after today apparently, so mayhap there’s a timezone issue.

Brown bottle, 1 pint 6 ounces, 2010 vintage, best after 11/15/11, trade with rfraga7 (thank you!), savoured on August 1 2014; eye: black, opaque, nice sheet of brown head that turns into a tiny ring, light lacing; nose: molasses, bourbon, woody, anise, light burnt barley, coffee, light alcohol; mouth: molasses, bourbon, woody, anise, light burnt barley, strong coffee, light alcohol, light alcohol warmth, light chocolate milk, finale in molasses with light pleasant acrid presence, full body, below-average carbonation, mildly bitter, lightly sweet, lightly acrid and lightly silky presence; overall: quite fine FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 1 pinte 6 onces, 11 %, millésime 2010, meilleure après 11/15/11, échange avec rfraga7 (thank you!), savourée le 1er août 2014; œil : noire, opaque, belle couverture de mousse brune qui se transforme en un petit anneau, légère dentelle; nez : mélasse, bourbon, boisé, anis, léger orge brûlée, café, léger alcool; bouche : mélasse, bourbon, boisé, anis, léger orge brûlée, café fort, léger alcool, léger chaleur d’alcool, léger lait au chocolat, finale en mélasse avec légère présence d’âcreté plaisante, corsée, carbonatation sous la moyenne, moyennement amère, très légèrement sucrée, texture légèrement âcre et légèrement soyeuse; en résumé : très bon

2010 bottle. Oily pitch black colour, dark brown foam. Aroma of coffee and roasted malts with sweet notes from chocolate and molasses. Very good but I was expecting more, maybe too old?

Part of a four year vertical. Big thanks to phatdog1 for putting this together!! For the sake of this review I am only reviewing the 2013. With a best after date of 08/16/14. Pitch black color with lasting mocha colored head. Aroma of licorice, coffee, and ash.

Flavor is really damn nice. Well hidden all goal under coffee, molasses, tobacco leaves and having a lingering licorice finish. After 3 oz. I also picked out a berry hint with oak. Oak is a light note as well as a light red wine hint. Body is creamy and full and what I look for in an imperial stout. Unreal stout that’s gets better with age, exceptional with a little bit of age. A year and half age is about peak. Fantastic