2012 bomber shared at the RBSG 2012 Grand Tasting. Deep brown/black, viscous liquid with minimal tan head. Aroma is very sweet with nice notes from the vanilla beans and the bourbon barrel and also some coffee and alcohol. Taste is very sweet and shows a character from the barrel and vanilla. Full bodied. Really nice but a bit too sweet.

Bottle. Buttery chocolate, coconut, vanilla and bourbon aroma. Black with a tiny head. Sweet vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate malt flavor. Mild alcohol finish. Glorious - never has a beer made me this happy and sad at the time since I may never get to try this again. I will try to get Dark Lord tickets just for the chance to get another one of these - so great.

Bottle. Chocolate, coconut, oaky bourbon, buttery vanilla aroma. Black with a small creamy tan head, viscous, coats glass nicely. Sweet chocolate, vanilla, burnt sugar, cinnamon flavor. Full body, smooth creamy mouth feel. Why do they even bother making regular DL, when this is so much better? I might have rated even higher, but I was able to do a side by side tasting with the Cognac Barrel Aged DL de Muerte, which I liked even more, and was close to my idea of perfection.

One big probably 3 oz sample (I was about 10th in line at the opening bell) and a couple smaller samples (an oz or so) after the line got more manageable at the Firestone International Beer Fest. Nose was chocolate, vanilla, oak, and bourbon. Black with a medium cinnamon tan head. Flavor was chocolate, prunes, vanilla, and of course the bourbon. Excellent stuff!

Sample at the Central OH BA Tasting at From The Vine on 06/02/2012: Bottle #394/934. Pours an oily black color with a thin light beige head that dissipates quickly. Small patches of lacing on the glass. Aroma of oaky bourbon, vanilla and malt. Rich, smooth body with flavors of chocolate, vanilla, bourbon and dark fruit. The finish is roasty with a lingering malt and vanilla aftertaste. Better than the recent "regular" Dark Lords I have tried (nothing will ever touch the ’04), this is definitely a treatment that adds something.

I had this beer on tap at Dark Lord Day. Wow, this beer was freaking fantastic! It was so smooth, so drinkable, and so very tasty! Poured a pitch black color, just like it’s base beer. Thick like oil, with not much of a head to note, but the alcohol sticks to the side of the glass. Enjoyed this quite a bit, certainly better than the times I’ve had the base beer. This isn’t to say that DL is bad, far from it, but that the vanilla added quite a bit to this. A must for any trip to DLD.

Bottled@The Chriso Pre-GBBF Shindig 2011 "Donkey Dork Lord Edition". (thanks madmitch76...). Pitch black colour, small head. Aroma is chocolate, liquorice, vanilla and some alcohol along with mild wooden notes. Flavour is liquorice, vanilla, chocolate, alcohol, wood and some slight spices and mild coffeeish notes as well. Wellbalanced and nice.

Hand bottle at ChrisO’s Pre-GBBF Shindig 2011. So, although it was great to try this beer, it came at the expense of the great Ken (MadMitch76). For those not familiar with the tale, Ken procured this beer some time ago. It was sent to him in a swing-top, Italian beer bottle (the Amarcord Tabachera). Well, Ken brought this bottle to ChrisO’s tasting. The night wore on and people (Ken included) had lots to drink. Eventually, Ken brought out this bottle. He was convinced it was the Amarcord - even when we pointed out that this beer poured like mud, and the bottle had a sticker reading "VB DL". So, as we all enjoyed his great beer, Ken sat back and obstained, believing 100% this was the Italian beer. A true tragedy it was, and it took about two days before the generous donor realised his oversight. I owe Ken for this one. But I digress. The beer poured thick, viscous, like mud, dark brown with basically no head. Lots of dark malts, dark fruits, rich sugar. Ultra sweet flavor, brown sugar syrup, molasses, raisin. Full bodied with soft to fine carbonation. Warming finish, syrupy, sticky sweet, more molasses, slight alcohol burn, mocha. Huge beer. Delicious. Thanks, Ken. (August 2011, score: 4.5)

Draft at CBC 2012 - Copenhagen. Pours oily black with a thick, brown cream head. Rich chocolate cake aroma, some sugar syrup, vanilla. Hugely sweet flavor with more decadent chocolate cake, light burnt wood, vanilla pods, molasses, brown sugar. Full bodied, chewy, with fine carbonation. Lightly warming in the finish, thick and oily, with lots of dark sugars, vanilla sauce, chocolate syrup, chocolate cake. Extremely decadent overall. If you like big, sweet imperial stouts, then this one’s for you. (May 2012, score: 4.2)

Shared by Ken at Chriso’s. Aroma of vanilla, oak, chocolate. Huge vanilla flavor, sour edge with chocolate, rather low roasting, over-sweet, but it is a lovely sweetness. Low bitterness too. Complex enough, though not as much as the regular DL.