Smell of red berries, roasted malt. Black colour, tiny dark brown head. Aroma of red wine, red berries, some tar and licorice. Intensely sour and medium sweet. Soft carbon.

Põhjala's classic Baltic porter Öö aged in cognac barrels as a special edition in their fantastic Cellar Series; bottle from DeApotheek shared with Jo. Creamy, deep yellowish-beige, medium thick, opening head, black robe with thin copper-red, hazy edge. Intense bouquet of chocolate liqueur and chocolate ganache, toffee, vanilla from oak, actual vanilla, cognac indeed but well-integrated, cinnamon, blueberry crumble, blackberry coulis, blue plum, Sachertorte, cappuccino, hint of cassis. Densely sweet, almost somewhat - atypically - 'juicy' onset with dark-fruity elements (plum,, blackberry, ripe pear) and a very light porcini-like umami accent; soft carb, very full oily body, a tad viscous but nevertheless remaining 'drinkable' for this strength and density. Thick slabs of pecan-nutty, toffeeish, Sachertorte- and cappuccino-like malt and other flavours fill the mouth, all topped with a fat layer of dark chocolate penetrating through the whole and connecting with the vanilla elements from both the cognac and the oak wood; the first also adds a kind of dark blue grape-like fruitiness and juiciness, probably the same fruitiness I experienced in the onset of this multi-layered beer - a stroke of genius, I would say, adding vinosity and a certain 'souplesse' to a type of beer that can otherwise become very cumbersome. The tannins add soft dryness but the dark fruitiness and profound chocolateyness keep the upper hand. The cognac of course brings a warming glow, but somehow at this formidable ABV, the booziness is kept in check - a telltale sign of great mastery of this kind of superdark, superstrong beers. Roasty and hoppy notes provide elements of bitterness, again in perfect balance with the rest. Complex, layered, intelligent and intense masterpiece of a beer: this, perhaps, is Põhjala at its very best.

Black with a brown head - Dark malt and wood barrel aroma - Dark malt flavours with chocolate and wood abrel flavours - Dark malt finish with chocolate and wood flavours - This was good