Classic Molen imperial stout, brewed with peat-smoked Bruichladdich whisky malt; had one of the barrel aged versions long ago but apparently the basic beer escaped me so far, so here we are, rating it from a (older) bottle bought from Willems in Grobbendonk. Regularly shaped, initially dense and creamy, thickly lacing, mocha-beige head, quickly breaking and eventually all but disappearing, over a black beer with hazy deep ruddy-burgundy edges. Intense bouquet of burnt peat and bags full of moist peat, so peat in a 'real' and natural kind of way (not the sharp iodine-like smell many peated whisky barrel aged beers have - using peated malts seems a better and more tasteful way to incorporate this aspect in a beer, it seems), draped over unsugared black chocolate, burnt branches, salmiak, ristretto, leather, old liquorice sticks, soy sauce, beef stock, charred meat, dried plums, pipe tobacco. Restrained dried plum sweetishness with a very deep sourish undercurrent and an outspoken, soy sauce-like umami edge, bit gravy-like even but making room for a profound black toasted bread maltiness, toasted nuts, 'fondant' chocolate and coffee, with a softly carbonated, very oily mouthfeel, yet somehow feeling less 'viscous' than I was expecting. Strong 'wet peat' effect retronasally, accentuating both roasty coffeeish bitterness and 'black peppery' hoppiness; all of this is soon drowned in a strong, whisky-like booziness, but still the toasted nuttiness, liquorice, dried plum and black roasted meat effects survive. A tad too boozy for my personal liking - even for a 10% ABV stout - but in any case a bold, in-your-face, uncompromising classic De Molen stout, which is never a bad thing, even if I had better from them in this range.

Zwart bier zonder schuim. Smaak is warm, licht bitter hoppig, licht zoet en gerookt met iets van geroosterd graan, brood en turf. Echt volledig in balans kwa smaak. Blijft ook erg lang hangen.