600 yen bottle from CBB. This beer’s been popping up all over the place. Served in a snifter. Thick viscous inky black pour with almost no head but some slow acting carbonation bubbling up. Plums, figs, umami, candied fruit & Hershey’s chocolate syrup in the nose. Wonderfully smooth medium body that reveals a slick mouthfeel in the aftertaste. As I keep drinking I started to feel the body was a bit light for the style. The flavor is dark bitter chocolate, coffee beans & licorice, good savoury umami + soy sauce as well. After warming up quite a bit you get some molasses & smoke in the nose... pretty good with a bit more tweaking this could be a killer beer, I need some kind of carbonation-being able to get a cm of foam would be nice as would a bit of a thicker body. Other than that quite strong.

Bottle at SlutFest 2011 on 04/23/2011. Dark black body with a large rocky tan head. Sweet roast and chocolate aroma. Big roast, chocolate, coffee, and creosote flavor with a bitter finish. Medium full body with moderate carbonation.

Tap @ Hoprevolution Vol.2. Dark as a night. Almost no head, just a small lacing. Aroma is quite strong in alcohol, coffee roast comes out more after the beer has warmed u a bit. Taste is full from the beginning. Tightly-packed liquorice, some smoke, hop bitterness. Aftertaste is quite intensive, some coffee and dark chocolate lingering on your tongue for longer. Feels great when the beer is moving through my throat, doing it just as carbonated coffee. Nice beer!

Pours black with a tiny head.Nose shows roasted malt, dark chocolate, nutty notes and liquorice.Pretty similar flavours but less complex, mainly roasted malt, dark chocolate and coffee liqueur.Needs more carbonation, pretty much flat at the moment.

Draft in Washington DC, just a few days after returning from Tokyo. Apparently the beer beat me here. Almost black, nearly flat. Aroma of Hershey’s syrup. Taste is sweet milk chocolate, bitter finish. Acceptable.

Bottle at RBJG 2 Grand Tasting. Black colour with a small beige head. Almost no lacing. Sweet plum, fruit aroma. Rather sweet plum, dark fruit flavour.

Bottle purchased at Hunger Mountain Co-Op, Montpelier, VT. No bottle dating anywhere. This has been sitting in my clear since August. Hard to know how old it is. The beer poured a deep brown/ almost black color with thin tan head that only showed a ring around the snifter. Aroma is roasted malts with mild notes of chocolate and slight coffee. Mostly the same with some sugar upfront and mild licorice undertones. The hops are almost totally gone. Not a huge problem for me. The body leans on the full side with no ABV being detectable. Overall it’s a drinkable Impy stout, slightly above average. Nothing about it makes me want to run out and grab another bottle yet it does have some nice flavors.

11th January 2010
9.0% Bottle. Opaque black beer. Thin chocolate - brown head, dies away quickly. Light airy palate. Dark malt, almost creamy and lightly toasted. Very light! A good streak of licorice. Finisihes dry with a licorice aftertaste. Also some of the ’green’ freshness that is in the Kurofone porter but not as bad.

Hardly any head. Opaque black body goes dark brown at edges. Roasty earthy black chocolate aroma with fruity notes. Dry-sweet roasty chocolatey taste with resiny caramelly notes. Fullish body. Mild, slightly hot mouthfeel. Dryish roasty wooden chocolatey aftertaste with resiny burnt coffee and fruit notes. Lovely! Vivid, clean, sharp, and fresh. (0.2l draft at Popeye, Tokyo. Menu says it’s 9.5%, though.)

Bottle 22fl.oz. @ chriso [ oh6gdx birthday bash tasting ].Dark brown colour with a average to large, frothy to creamy, good lacing, fully lasting, beige head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, chocolate, sweet malt, wood. Flavour is moderate to light light heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a long duration, light salty. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20111203]