The Last Dark Dawn

Huge stout (15% ABV, no less) by this familiar Spanish craft brewery; bottle from Etre Gourmet shared with Craftmember. Pale mocha-beige, medium thick but opening, dot-lacing head on a pitch black beer. Intense aroma of cocoa, teriyaki, molasses, toasted pecan nuts, mocha, nori, coffee cream, cold latté, clear alcohol (as in gin or vodka), bayleaf, bladderwort, beef stock, dried blackcurrants. Some light sweetness at first (dried fig) but more pronounced umami (oyster mushroom, teriyaki, black olive), soft carb, very full and oily body, notably thinned by alcohol in an early stage; still, thick slabs of caramelly, chocolatey, toasty and eventually coffee-like bittersweet malts fill the mouth cavity, with more bitterness in the end (and lingering umami at first – so still remaining subdued in overall sweetness). Ends roasted bitter with that sweet chocolate aspect remaining, very spicy-hop bitter and of course very boozy, with strong whisky-like alcohol burning through the malts. A bit too much so for me, but of course unsurprising at this ABV. Why all that muscle-flexing? The result is more than decent, sure, but striving for a perfect imperial stout at, say, 10% ABV could perhaps be a more noble purpose than trying to impress with something this powerful… Not really my thing, but nevertheless impressive, in all.

33cl bottle pours a thick black, beige head. Nose is old school, malt, licorice, smoke, molasses, dark chocolate. Flavor leads with earth and smoke and malt, Kahlua, molasses, licorice. Full bodied finish.