Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of light roasted malt with some lactose and Armagnac notes with nice black chocolate notes also noticeable. Taste is dominated by nice creamy black chocolate notes with some roasted malt with just the right amount of Armagnac notes from the barrel. Body is smooth with nice creamy texture and good carbonation with no apparent alcohol. Solid offering with nice barrel-aging notes.

Spiced, ultra heavy stout with thick, creamy, dense, dark beige head and ink black colour revealing itself to be very dark burgundy in the end; fine columns of bubbles rise up at the edges, supporting the head. Texture is visibly viscous when pouring. Aroma of black coffee, bitter cocoa, carraway seed, dried tarragon, liquorice, whisky, bayleaf, liquorice, black olives, charcoal, old furniture, woody tannins, candied orange, vanilla, toasted bread, roasted onion. Intense, deep taste, some restrained candied sweetness, liquorice, dried plums, refined spiciness of dried tarragon, some aniseed and carraway indeed, but all subtle and well buried under a truckload of heavy maltiness, caramelly, toasted, extremely thick, fatty mouthfeel, ending in a roasted chocolatey and coffeeish bitterness, deep with a sourish edge; drying woody tannins add further complexity, as well as peppery hops, retronasal spicy notes but subtle, and a glow of warming, whisky-like alcohol. Sticks to the throat a bit. Very impressive and intense, original stout, a slow sipper for sure, bearing this brewery’s quality stamp.