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

2022, 500mL bottle, drunk 8/21/22. Inky, thick, dark as night. Tan head is thin, showing low retention. Wow that's intense. Vanilla, espresso bean, ash and finally some lighter sherry and bourbon coming through on the very end. It's telling when the sherry and bourbon are the significantly brighter, lighter notes in the nose. Not too much sherry but some light earth, moss, old wine and oxidation, with spicier, livlier bourbon notes to follow. Alcohol isn't hot/sharp but at this level is noticeable upon warming. A pinch of sweetness opens up with light vanilla and warming bourbon spice. Sherry notes through the middle ending on hard espresso and fairly heavy ashen roast. Bitter, well-attenuated and pretty unforgiving. The flavors are all excellent, especially the sherry, though the excessively bitter, dry, Italian roast coffee notes do eventually fatigue the palate. An absolute monster, with a viscous, though not syrupy texture. Fully attenuated; thinking maybe a bit more residual sugar would actually be beneficial here. But well-constructed, albeit a very slow sipper, nonetheless.

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