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

12 ounce bottle into snifter, no bottle dating. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger fairly dense khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, nuttiness, toasted oak, dark/brown bread, smoke, and charcoal; with lighter notes of vanilla, licorice, dark fruit, leather, tobacco, herbal, pepper, pine, and roast/toast/smokey earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/black malts, oak staves, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, nuttiness, toasted oak, dark/brown bread, smoke, and charcoal; with lighter notes of vanilla, licorice, dark fruit, leather, tobacco, herbal, pepper, pine, and roast/toast/smokey earthiness. Light-moderate roast/char and pine/herbal/spicy hop bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, nuttiness, toasted oak, dark/brown bread, smoke, charcoal, vanilla, light licorice/dark fruit, herbal, pepper, pine, and roast/toast/smokey earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/black malts, oak staves, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with a great roast/hop bitter/sweet balance; and zero acrid/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and fairly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 9.1%. Overall this is an awesome Russian imperial stout! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/black malts, oak staves, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and easy to drink for the big ABV, with the mellowly bitter/drying finish. Never overly bitter or charred. Very rich malt complexity; with nice oak stave presence, earthy hop balance, and restrained fruity yeast character. A really enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.