Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

2022 vintage. Pours an opaque/greyish leaning black, with at most one finger of head, the slightest off-white; scarce retention and pretty much no lacing. Pretty good intensity in a straightforward, well defined aroma: rather strong roasted malts (a light dark bread base, strong and dry coffe notes), a not too timid sweetish fruity note (fruit cake), some vinous character on the back of things. Pretty nice, intense aroma, perhaps not as complex as expected from the style. Gets a bit more layers in taste, but still somehow feels like it could use a bit more complexity: pretty strong roasted character as the smell suggested (notes as per aroma, plus maybe a hint of bitter/dry chocolate). Again, a very dry, kind of "decisive" roasted character, though a bit mellowed by the background of sweet frutiness and the vinous character; a hint of soft nuttiness also shows up to bring a hint of creaminess. As for balance, the mouth feels pretty dry and quite bitter, but the finish is surprisingly balanced, still dry but more in the likes of cleansing than in the likes of mouth-puckering. Quite dense bodied as obvious, but i would perhaps have guessed a 8/9% abv rather than a 10%. Light to medium, thin bubbled carbonation. The overall mouthfeel is semi-full and slightly thick with just a hint of creaminess. Overall: i'd guess that this is some sort of nod to the aged character of the british imperial stouts of old, but as a modern/clean version: Anyways, it is a well made, straightforward roasty and quite tasty stout; definitely approved.

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle (2018, bottle # 02965) from Liquor Junction, Reading. Clear, virtually opaque brown w/mahogany, nice viscosity, ephemeral head, no lacing. Aroma is strong earthy, peaty malt, molasses/toffee and a bit dusty with background vinous quality, as advertised. Taste is strong red wine quality throughout, initial earthy, peaty, dry malt; later strong molasses. Smooth and frothy, soft carb, dry, bitter roasted finish w/slight alcohol warming. Good strength, nice complexity and balance. How different European and American RIS are!

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle from Beers of Europe. Pours a dark brown with small beige head with good retention. Aroma of roasted malt, golden syrup, dried fruit, caramel, ginger. Taste of roasted malts, liquorice, dark chocolate, dried fruit and spice. Medium to full bodied, slick. Very nice indeed.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

330 ml bottle. Pours a dark brown with no head. Aromas of roasted barley and sugar. Flavors of licorice, powdery dark chocolate, dry roasted malts, a tiny bit of smoke and a bit of sugar. Dry bitter finish.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

330mL bottle, pours black with a thin body and a medium beige head. Nose has medium toasted malt (wouldn't say roasted) and a touch of cocoa powder -- very light aromatics for an impie stout. Flavour is more assertive, with black liquorice, English bready malt, toasted malt, earthy bitterness, and some woodiness. Quite bitter, toasty, and liquorice-y on the finish. Thin-bodied compared to American/contemporary imperial stouts, but still a nice body -- I'm appreciating the lower residual sugar. Good.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 7.5

All bottles 33 cl. Tasted simultaneously 14.09.22: Vintage 2012 (№ 8289): very dark brown with garnet and chestnut, foam weaker, creamy with an ashy tint. Aroma seems old, a lot of stale bitter chocolate, moderate sweetness, a crust of black bread, black coffee, a hint of sourness and old red wine, caramel a little, a little spices and walnuts, nutty and cocoa-chocolate shades. Taste: sweet, caramel, caramel liqueur or balm, a little spicy herbs, mild carbonation, a little bitter chocolate and coffee, warms well, mild hop bitterness at the finish, nobly aged, woody-spicy shades and a drop of old whisky. 8/4-/8/5/14=3.9 Vintage 2018 (№ 00693): very dark brown with garnet, good cappuccino foam. Aroma: a little sweeter, honey, caramel, light sourness like from yeast and roasted malt (or barley), dessert chocolate, a little wine, bread and coffee, dried fruits, prunes. Taste: sweetish, more lively carbonation, strong dessert wine with tones of black muscatel, chocolate, coffee, a bit sour, quite elegant and easy to drink, warming effect, dried fruits (prunes and dried dates), bitter finish, good balance. 8/4+/8/5/15=4.0 Vintage 2018 (№ 00685). Tasted 02.10.20: dark brown, brownish foam. Aroma: esters, caramel, wine, honey, fruity, slightly smoky, still good. Taste: caramel, honey, malty, winey, sweet, so British. 7/5/7/4/13=3.6.