33cl bottle bought from hopt.it in 2020. Pours black, dense, with fine, light brown foam. Aroma is of grinded coffee, chocolate, some vanilla and nuts. Body is thick, with soft, fine carbonation. Taste is markedly sweet, with some roasty bitterness. Final is delicate but long.

Imperial stout by Laugar, with quite a macabre, metal-inspired label, apparently the third one in a ‘Doom’ series (a series of collabs Laugar does with other breweries – this particular with the participation of NaparBCN, among others). Creamy, dense, medium thick, yellowish mocha-beige head, black robe with thin burgundy edge. Aroma of toffee, lots of melting black chocolate, wet leather, cognac, vanilla, molasses, black pepper and pepper sauce, cappuccino, ‘Haagse hopjes’. Sweet onset though not too sticky, concentrated dark fruitiness, blackberry and fig jam, finely tingling carb; very full and oily mouthfeel, thick layers of black chocolate, molasses, toffee and chestnut, developing a mild coffee-ish roasted bitterness and refined coffee flavour (added Ethiopian coffee!) in its tail – a bitterness enhanced by whisky-like, quite heating and peppery. A vanilla touch appears retronasally which no doubt must be linked to the added tonka bean, but in all the tonka presence remains relatively subtle – a stark contrast with last week’s Atrium Juruá, and any other tonka bean stout I had before… Something candy-ish (marzipan but very vaguely so) does linger in the finish, however, making the tonka bean a strong supporting but integrated component of the whole, rather than a strong added flavouring; the coffee, too, echoes for a while, and the combination of sweet tonka and bitter coffee reminds of Kopiko coffee candy and the like. The alcohol, though strong and warm, remains in place, balancing out the sweetness a bit as well. It shows that two of Spain’s very best craft breweries are involved here: this entire construction, complex and hefty as it is, shows a remarkable degree of balance and finesse, something I often miss in present-day imperial stouts. The tonka bean is more refined and subtle here than I ever encountered in a tonka-flavoured beer, and the Ethiopian coffee lends it a degree of deep dark, coffee bitter elegance that matches perfectly with both the malt bill and that tonka accent. Lots of finesse in spite of its strength, desserty without going all pastry: this is a truly sophisticated strong stout in my humble opinion.

Bottle from Gedeelde Vreugde. Cloudy black, very thin, beige head. Aroma of chicory, earth, walnut oil, chocolate sauce, dark fudge, dried fig, coffee dregs, charred beef, toasted coco, cigar. Taste has sweet date & fig in a thick chocolate sauce- & dark fudge-like body, bitter coffee dregs in the middle along an earthy-umami, meaty side almost (beef jerky, fried porcini). Earthy hoppy finish, lingering dried fruit, chocolate & coffee nibs, before warming whisky alcohol kicks in. Full body, oily texture, average carbonation. Pastry Stout staying true to the core roasted, earthy aspect. Very good.

Bottle at home. Black, brown head. Roasted malts, tobacco, coffee, cigars, fairly bitter, smokey, roasted malts, fairly bitter and dry. Out of the ordinary, a bit different. Pretty ok.

Purchased at Beerland

Brown bottle, 33 cl, best before 08/2024, lot 190702, bought at Clandestin, cuisine créative on May 9, 2020, savoured on 3 June 2020; eye: black, opaque, small ring of dark brown head, no lacing; nose: coffee, roasting, caramel, molasses, chocolate, slight aniseed; mouth: coffee, roasting, caramel, molasses, chocolate, light pepper, light ash, slight aniseed, finale in coffee with presence of pepper, full-bodied, lightly below average carbonation, mildly sweet, oily and lightly “hot peppery” texture; overall: quite good

FRANÇAIS
Bouteille brune, 33 cl, meilleure avant 08/2024, lot 190702, achetée chez Clandestin, cuisine créative le 9 mai 2020, savourée le 3 juin 2020; œil : noire, opaque, petit anneau de mousse brun foncé, pas de dentelle; nez : café, torréfaction, caramel, mélasse, chocolat, très léger anis; bouche : café, torréfaction, caramel, mélasse, chocolat, léger piment, léger cendré, très léger anis, finale en café avec présence de piment, corsée, carbonatation légèrement sous la moyenne, moyennement sucrée, texture huileuse et légèrement piquante; en résumé : bien bon