8.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

16 ounce can into snifter; no can dating, but is a recent local release. Pours dense pitch black color with a small fairly dense dark brown bread with good retention, that reduces to a thin lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark/brown bread dough/crust; with light notes of licorice, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, wood, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/black/roast/bready malts, coffee, donuts, vanilla, lactose, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark/brown bread dough/crust; with light notes of licorice, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, wood, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Mild herbal, woody, grassy, roast, char bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark/brown bread dough/crust, licorice, dark fruit, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, wood, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, coffee, donuts, lactose, vanilla, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a solid roast/hop bitter/sweet balance, and no cloying sweetness after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/roast bitterness. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is fantastic. Minimal warming alcohol for 12.4%. Overall this is a fantastic flavored imperial milk/sweet stout! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, coffee, donuts, lactose, vanilla, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mildly bitter/drying finish. Very well rounded rich malts, lactose, coffee, vanilla, and donut flavor complexity; with mild fruity yeast and earthy hops against sweetness. A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on example for the English style.