Bottle on the train from Edinburgh - 08/12/12. Light black with a thin tan head that clears to the edge. Nose is roast malts, light chocolate. Taste follows nose with some dark fruit tones and a touch of toffee. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, dry finish. Average.

Pours with a thick frothy head and a nutty, chocolatey aroma and a flavour to match. Very smooth and almost creamy in the mouth and the aftertaste is mostly nut.

500ml bottle - a black body with tan head, classic stout look, a very smoky cigar-like taste, with a little kick of vanilla and cocoa. Lingering bitter after taste.

Bottle from Dunnottar Wine and Spirits. It pours very dark brown, with a massive light tan head. The nose is roasted malt, smoke, milk chocolate and charcoal. The taste is caramel milk chocolate, roasted malt, charcoal, toffee, ash and a touch of smoke, with a dry-roasted finish. Sweetness balances out some background acidity. Easy drinking and flavoursome. A Scottish classic.

April 2009: 500ml brown bottle with a life of 12 days left before it had to be drunk. Poured into a Thistle shaped ’Gordon Finest Golden’ glass (twice). Looked good on both pours at first, dark, very dark ruby red body with a tanned head that sadly faded fairly quickly to not even a full collar or wisp, shame really, because I like a good head on my beers no matter what style they are supposed to be. Chocolate aroma at first, then liquorice and toasted maltloaf. A little fizzy for a stout, and a bit thin in the mouthfeel too, but not unpleasant at all. All the aroma hints come out in the taste with a burnt dryness overcoming the initial sweet chocolate feel I detected. Overall not bad, but it is obviously a lot better in its cask form because this wouldn’t have won ’Best Cask Beer of Scotland’ in 2005.

Bottle. Black with a medium tan head. Aroma of toast and malty. Flavour is toast, slight burnt vanilla with a dry sweet finish

Bottle. Black with small tan head. Flavour is roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, liquorice, fruit,, medium sweet and a little bitter.

Almost black with a brown head. Aroma is sweet, roasted malt and coffee. Flavor is quite sweet and light bitter. Dry and roasted light bitter finish. 030911

Almost black, big frothy beige head. Fruity aroma of plums and soy. Smoth but dry taste of chocolate, coffee, dried pears and plums. A little bitterness and sweetness in the end. Subtle, well balanced, rich yet very drinkable.

Bottle from Beers of Europe. Black colour, thin tan head. Nose is roasted malts and some coffee, bit fruity. Flavour of roasted malts, coffee, maybe some vanilla. Well drinkable.