Bottle from Cockney pub. Medium head with medium duration. Color is black. Aroma and taste are roast malt, chocolate, hops and notes of citrus.

Cask. Very dark. Fudgey, slightly roasty aroma. Soft, limited body with vague dark malt, a hint of coffee and a fair bit of tartness. I’ll allow for the tartness - it’s stylistically accurate - but the beer as a whole never really comes together as a result, so the tartness detracts from the overall presentation. It is, I admit, a fine line to tread, but this crosses just over into "too sour, too thin" for me.

500ml bottle. Pours a very drak brown, near black with a nice big head. Aroma is of roast coffee, some roast barley and some cream. Coffee is on the taste with a medium bitter finish. Body is a bit lighter then I would like, but it’s not the strongest stout, so I can cope with that!

Cask at The Harp, London. Dark brown/black pour with small head. Roasty aroma. Tastes of roasted coffee, chocolate, slightly bitter/sweet. Quite drinkable.

Dark brown with a medium beige creamy head. Sweet aroma with roasted malt, coffee and chocolate. Flavour was sweet and contained chocolate, coffee and hints of oats. Finished sweet.

Deep dark brown coloured body (about 90% opaque) with a thick tan head and millions of small bubbles that are rising from the bottom of the glass, seen when held up to a light. As far as I can remember, this is the only beer i’ve seen that the head actually RISES a few minutes after the beer has been poured - the head doesn’t settle, it rises!!! Aroma of cream, yeast, roasted malt and pit fruits...interesting for a stout indeed. Medium-bodied; Strong roasty flavours with peat and smoked malt the most common. More malt and coffee comes through near the end, but some sweetness and a little creamy flavour tucks in after a few seconds. Aftertaste is more subtle, only a little smokiness comes through and a decent amount of sugars. Overall, a very interesting beer - one that surprises throughout, but definitely in the appearance with the insane head! Worth trying just for the different style of beer, but the complexity is interesting! I sampled this 500 mL bottle purchased from Oliver’s Beverage in Albany, New York on 22-December-2008, sampled at home in Washington on 12-March-2009.

500ml bottle from Tescos, Andover. Blackish brown with a dense cream head; the aroma reminds me of Sugar Puffs - with a candied sweetness and a underlying ricey body; fortunately the flavour is more typical of a stout, with smooth creamy chocolaty malts dominating and some sharp blackberry fruit; the finish is dry and velvety with fruits and some coffee. An excellent stout.

Cask (Waterloo Arms, Southampton) - Very dark brown, almost black in colour. Coffee in the aroma. Coffee and chocolate in the taste with a slight hoppy element and a roasted finish.