Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2023, Friday. Black colour, no head. Aroma and Taste of sweet strong dark caramelized malt, chocolate, vanilla, caramel, raisins, very good.

Blend of barrel aged strong stouts flavoured with vanilla, cinnamon and toasted hazelnuts; sampled at BCBF. Greyish-tinged beige, large-bubbled but loosely knit, open head on a pitch black robe. Aroma of caramel liqueur, cognac, black chocolate bars, Baileys, toffee, wet toast, hazelnut indeed, less cinnamon and even less vanilla, though still there. Sweet, syrupy onset, fig jam and candied dates, vague umami accent (Japanese soy sauce) with softish carb and very full, oily body; black chocolate, nougat, hazelnut paste and roasted walnut flavours ensue, with a coffeeish edge in the end without going all roasted bitter; hints of sticky plum jam, fudge and Chocotoff candy appear before a long, warming cognac-tinged boozy finish sets in, never thinning or burning – absorbed as it is by that thick dark syrupiness that makes up the core of this blend. Reminiscent of The Bruery’s Mélange series, among others, though perhaps a tad less refined.