500 ml bottle into snifter, 2017 vintage bottling. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big juicy/tart/tangy raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, nutty medium roast coffee, milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, molasses, toffee, brown sugar, red grape/wine, and toasted dark bread; with lighter notes of smoke, char, herbal, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Fantastic aromas with awesome balance of raspberries, coffee, cocoa, dark/roast/bready malt, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of big juicy/tart/tangy raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, nutty medium roast coffee, milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, molasses, toffee, brown sugar, red grape/wine, and toasted dark bread; with lighter notes of smoke, char, herbal, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate roast/char/herbal/spicy bitterness and fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart/tangy raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, nutty medium roast coffee, milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, molasses, toffee, brown sugar, red grape/wine, toasted dark bread, smoke, char, herbal, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of raspberries, coffee, cocoa, dark/roast/bready malt, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with a good malt/bitterness and tart/tangy fruit balance. Bit of lingering hop and tannic fruit astringency, but not overwhelming. Light-moderate increasing dryness from hop/char bitterness and fruit tang/tartness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, acidic/tangy/tannic, and fairly sticky/chalky balanced mouthfeel that is good. A bit rough on bitterness/fruit tannins, and on the thin side for the ABV. Mildly increasing warmth of 9.4% after the finish. Overall this is an awesome fruited imperial oatmeal stout! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of raspberries, coffee, cocoa, dark/roast/bready malt, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to sip on for the big ABV; despite the increasingly bitter/tannic/drying finish. Awesome balance of jammy berries, coffee, cocoa, and nicely rich oatmeal stout malt complexity. Amazing nose, but would have preferred a less bitter and tannic fruit finish. A really impressive and enjoyable offering otherwise.

From a bottle at the DC RB gathering January 7, 2018. It is a clear cola color with a tan head. The Aroma is coffee. The taste is of raspberry, chocolate, anc coffee .