8.1

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

16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 10/25/2018. Pours nearly opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, toffee, chestnuts, toasted oak, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, plum, fig, date, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, maple syrup, chestnuts, oak barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, toffee, chestnuts, toasted oak, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, plum, fig, date, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, roast, char bitterness; and oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, toffee, chestnuts, toasted oak, dark/brown bread, light licorice/dark fruit/smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, maple syrup, chestnuts, oak barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a great roast/hop bitter/sweet, and oak spiciness balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering hop/roast bitterness and oak spiciness. Medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and fairly sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is great. Mildly increasing warmth of 11.5% after the finish. Overall this is an awesome barrel aged flavored imperial porter. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, maple syrup, chestnuts, oak barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the modestly bitter/tannic/drying finish. Not overly roasty/charred on malts, or tannic on barrels. Awesome balance of rich malts, chestnuts, maple syrup, and oak barrel presence; with restrained fruity yeast and earthy hop balance against sweetness. A really enjoyable offering, and spot on style example as expected. Did not prefer it over the base beer. A bit richer from the higher ABV, but just as impressive.