Bottle at home. Pours black, nose is meaty, chocolate, roasted, taste is similar, dry and bitter.

Achetée au Vermont en Mai 2014. Sweet stout with molasses, field berries and coffee flavors. Great complexity. Superb balance. De superbes aromes de boisé, de chêne, combinée à l’alcool aux accents de rhum (est-elle vieillie en fût? je ne sais pas) Présence également de fruits sauvages, de café, de pruneaux et de dattes. Un olfactif complexe et évolutif, à forte dominance d’alcool. Le visuel est noir, opaque, à mousse brune foncée, à grosses bulles et à texture crémeuse mélangée. Quelques traces survivent sur le verre. L’attaque est sucrée, avec de grosses notes de mélasse, accompagnées de fruits des champs. Puis l’alcool entre en action pour offrir une finale chaude et amère. Les notes de sucre sont de mélasse, de crème brulée, de mures et de dattes. La torréfaction est assurée par le café et l’amertume des houblons est mi- terreuse, mi- conifère. Grande complexité. Superbe équilibre.

Tasted as A. Le Coq Imperial Extra Double Stout, apparently in honour of a Belgian brewer called Le Coq, who exported imperial stout to Russia throught the Baltic region and whose company was later taken over by Harvey & Son, which restituted this brew in the nineties. One of those - unfortunately rare - beers that get a few years of ageing before being sold, in corked bottles. The specimen I tasted back in 2005 formed practically no head, only by strongly forcing it, a milky, dark beige edge of foam appeared. Ink black colour, wine-red hue nearly invisible. Powerful aroma of soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, toasted bread, dried plums, cane sugar, ketchup, cork, candied figs and, above all, black coffee. The taste is incredibly intense with a mouthfeel as thick, syrupy and oily as I have rarely encountered since then; a very dense and robust maltiness, dark fruits, overall a profound, warm, toasted, mouth filling, spicy bitterness dominates and smoothly leads to a sticky, peppery, bone-dry and very long finish. Intense, thick, powerful, admittedly not very subtle, but all the more fascinating and a brew I will not easily forget, that is for sure. In terms of style, I think this beverage is best described as a missing link between an actual imperial stout and a Baltic porter, and this seems to be confirmed by its history.

Bottle from Beer Hawk - Jet black body, thick firm lasting beige head. Nose is a winey, sweet balsamic vinegar, lots of fruit and a bit of smoke. Mouthfeel is great - meringue like - nice robust and oily. Taste is a strange sweet and sour mix, but in a good way, with a boozy warmth going down. Very nice and enjoyable IRS.