Spoko, lepsiejszy niz z probki, solidny, klasyczny stoucik

28-09-19 // bottle shared at Mon Petit Cafe Suttgart on Zwanze Day 2019. Almost perfection for me. Coffee and bourbon blending into each other perfectly. So damn smooth, oildy and fullbodied. 04-07-20 // Hopfenjünger-Hef big bottle sharing 2020. 2018 version. Bourbon and coffee. Always an unbeatable combo for me. Thick rich. Sweet but balanced with s boozy bourbon note. Bitter chocolate.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of black cholate, bourbon wood and some tobacco notes is very interesting. Taste is a great mix of black chocolate notes with some light residual sugar notes, some bourbon and woody notes with light vanilla and some dominant tobacco notes. Body is full with oily texture and good carbonation. Quite the extreme imperial stout with tobacco playing a bigger role then I was expected.

Bottle. Pours almost black with a tan head. Coffee, roasted malt, oak, vanilla, bourbon. Very nice.

500ml bottle from a trade. 2016 vintage. Smooth, heavy and slightly roasty with loads of coffee, licorice, bourbon, oak, vanilla and chocolate. Heavy and smooth. Super balanced

Bottle with KBL. Nose is bourbon, vanilla, rich chocolate. Soy is gone, thankfully. Rich, fruity flavor of vanilla, wood, chocolate, whiskey. Very soft and oily, medium body, much more enjoyable to me.

Bottled January 7th, 2016, drunk Nov 11th, 2018.
Cellar-to-glass with a pour showing a dark ebony body topped by a small covering of lightly-singed-tan head. Recedes steadily to a ring. Clarity seems to be high.
Tell-tale bourbon in the nose, first and foremost, with spicy whiskey notes and dry, woody oak reaching long in to the finish. Dark chocolate, licorice and fruity, fairly mild roast are along for the ride and nothing dominates, though the bourbon is ever-present. Clean, bold and showing no sign of booze or syrupy, underattenuated sugars (not that I'd expect that from HF, obviously). Light soy is folded in seamlessly with prune, raisin and fig and there's no real sign of its age here, other than perhaps the lack of any aggressive characteristics.
The nose does not prepare me for what's to come in the glass. My first sip is infinitely soft, succulent, rich and completely wraps the palate in sweet caramel, milk chocolate and lingering honey as bourbon only finds its way in on the finish, adding a lightly peppery/spicy drying note that is welcome in face of the unexpected maltiness. It's on the sweeter side, but well-balanced, nay perfectly balanced, by ash, tar and vinous notes that lend moderate acidity. All the while the bourbon works its way more and more in to the finish, cutting through the malt sugar and eventually leaving spicy, whiskey-rich dryness lingering as one of the major notes here. With continued gulps (it's too enticing and drinkable to sip), I find the balance to improve, rather than the palate become fatigued (often the case with this style). I continue to wait for any sharp alcohol/whiskey/wood to emerge, but it never does. It remains just as silky, succulent and mild as the first sip. Low, but engaging carbonation and a lush finish of dark fruit, toffee and mild, yet enjoyably spicy bourbon. Genealogy is a tough act to follow but this is better yet; the restrained bourbon adding another dimension of complexity and dryness. What a treat. Can't wait to pick up more stouts from Hill.