From tap @ Beerdock. Head is medium, tanned, good retention. Colour is dark, opaque. Aroma is rich dark malts, chocolate, cocoa, dark fruits, vanilla. Taste is full malty base, cocoa, praline, vanilla, umami touch, soft carbonation, very good.

Bottle at home. Pours jet black with deep brown head. It's thick coffee, dark chocolate, slight fruity touch and some vanilla too. Medium bodied with soft carbo, nice sipper this one. It's interesting that even if a Pohjala beer is no great, it's still hecking good.

Bottle from Speciaalbierpakket. Aroma is roasted malt with cocoa, lots of dark chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and oak. Flavour is sweet with a decent roasty bitterness in the finish. Body is medium to full. Lovely vanilla and chocolate in the aroma, more wood than I expected, sweet as expected from Põhjala. Good!

Oaked and vanilla- and cocoa-flavoured imperial porter by the most prominent of new generation Estonian craft breweries; at Gebrande Winning as an accompaniment to the dessert (dame blanche). Wafer-thin, pale greyish beige, tiny-bubbled, open and dissolving head, very dark chocolate brown robe, as good as black, with warm mahogany glow, clear. Aroma of black chocolate and cocoa, toffee, actual vanilla accentuated by vanilla-scenting oak wood, latté macchiato, espresso, whisky, bayleaf, almond, hot chocolate sauce, pipe tobacco. Sweet onset but less so than expected and not sticky, light sourish and umami accents (blackberry and black olive), fig compote, ripe pear, dates and blackberry coulis; more umami ensues (soy sauce), over a softly carbonated, very full and oily, unctuous bitter-chocolatey, toffeeish and roasted pecan-nutty core, filling the mouth. More coffee-like roasted bitterness in the end phase, accentuated by spicy hops and warming, whisky-like alcohol, as well as a mild touch of oaky tannins and some soothing retronasal vanilla, though in a faded, weak kind of way. Oddly and unexpectedly, a faint smoky element (charcoal or burnt meat) appears in the end as well. Complex, rich strong porter - but I was not expecting anything less from these guys.

0.33l bottle - Pours black with a small short lived tan head. The aroma is dark roasted malts, chocolate and brownies. A sweetish chocolatey taste, chocolate brownies, roasted malt and light vanilla flavours with woody, bitter and chocolatey finish.

Bottle from an online shop. Darkest brown/black, small brown head. Molasses roasted malt nose. Brown sugar flavor but not overly sweet; chocolate and black malt but without the astringency they often bring. Mild and super smooth hop bitterness. The cacao nibs bring a lot of complexity without overwhelming, and the oak is super well integrated. Silky smooth indeed, as the label promised!