Got in a trade with The-Adjunct-Hippie. 12 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 11/29/2017. Pours dense pitch black color with a 1 finger dense and rocky tan head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, brown sugar, toffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/black/roast/bready malts and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, brown sugar, toffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate pine, herbal, woody, grassy, peppery hops; and roast/charred bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, brown sugar, toffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, light licorice/dark fruit, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a fantastic roast/hop bitter/sweet balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, fairly sticky/chalky, and lightly slick mouthfeel that is fantastic. Minimal warming alcohol for 10.5%. Overall this is an amazing Russian imperial stout! All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for big ABV, with the mellowly bitter/charred/drying finish. Amazingly soft feel for the style. Amazing huge/rich stout malt complexity; with balancing earthy hops, and restrained fruity yeast. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A highly amazing offering, and top tier style example. Reminds me of a less bitter Old Raspy a lot. Aged amazingly.

12oz bottle. Rusty beige head on top of a deep black body. Classic American Imperial Stout, done really well. In a world of adjunct heavy sugar bombs, this really stands out. Great balance, cool hop tone. Some licorice, lots of roast, deep chocolate, brown sugar. Quite an excellent stout, well exceeding my moderate expectations. This is why I liked Imperial Stout in the first place. Solid.