Deep, dark brown and almost jet black coloured body with a thinnish, relatively quick-dying light brown head, that shows at about a centimetre tall in height that looks nice at first, but goes away very qiuckly. Aroma of roasted malt, molasses, pitted fruit, prunes, raisins, figs, earth, a touch of coffee and a good dose of alcohol throughout, but the robust pungency of the grain and sugars make this pass by. Full-bodied; Super rich mouthful of sugars with caramelised sugars, pitted fruits, prunes, figs, raisins, toffee, treacle and a dose of biscuits all shine through with a lot of roasted malt, molasses and earthy notes that complicate the finish and leave a lot of sugars and alcohol present. Aftertaste shows some mild coffee notes with a punch from the alcohol, pitted fruit, raisins and figs and a hearty bite from earth and grain, in a good way. Overall, a nice and robust beer that shows well, relatively subdued and softer on the edges than it probably once was, but perhaps, still a bit too pungent and astringent for the masses. Perhaps another two or three years in the bottle would do wonders and still leave the body nice and potent, but I didn't give it that time...if you do have a bottle, perhaps around four or five years here would be the best margin for taste/body in your cellar, while I only did two. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Costco in Arlington (Pentagon City), Virginia on 24-January-2018 for US$6,89 sampled just over two years later at home in Washington on 09-February-2020, a few blocks away.

$8.99 bomber, Rio Hill Wine. Pours very dark brown, nearly black, with a small brown head. Aroma is strong, sweet chocolate, oak, molasses, sweet dark fruit. Flavor is dark chocolate, coconut, earth, cocoa, dark fruit, wood, alcohol. Pretty, pretty good.

Very dark brown with a dark, thin head. Toasted malts, dark ripe fruit, molasses, candied brown sugars, chocolate, raisin. Full bodied. Finish has some tangy fruit notes rounded out by the sweet malt molasses notes. Very nice brew.

Pours ebony into a tulip. Mocha head with good retention recedes leaving scant lacing. Raisin and prune aromas. Thick with sweet prune, molasses and licorice front to back and into the warming fruity finish.