Bottle. Pours inky black, small deep brown head, dissipates fairly quickly, decent lacing. Aroma is rich and roasty, molasses and cocoa powder, light chili pepper is present but not dominant. Flavor is light sweet, medium bitter, roasty, lots of molasses and dark chocolate, hints of anise as well, chili is a bit disappointingly light, no real burn here, even in the finish, although eventually as you drink more there is enough of a burn that you know there were at least chilis in the beer. Full rich creamy mouthfeel and body. Damn good shit, I just wish it had more of a kick to it.

330 ml bottle into snifter; no bottle dating, but is a fairly recent release. Pours dense pitch black color with a 1 finger dense dark brown bread with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, molasses, toast, dark bread, blackberry, plum, light licorice, chili pepper, herbal, light smoke/char, and herbal/roasted earthiness. Incredible aromas with awesome balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt, chili pepper, and fruity/earthy yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, molasses, toast, dark bread, blackberry, plum, light licorice, chili pepper, herbal, light smoke/char, and herbal/roasted earthiness. Fair amount of roasted bitterness and light chili spice on the finish; with lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, molasses, toast, dark bread, blackberry, plum, light licorice, chili pepper, and herbal/roasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, chili pepper, and fruity/earthy yeast flavors; with an awesome roasted bitter/sweet/spiciness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light carbonation and full bodied; with a very creamy, fairly slick, and slightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a small warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic chili spiced imperial stout style. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, chili pepper, and fruity/earthy yeast flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the huge ABV. The chili pepper flavors were very restrained on both heat and spiciness, and had really awesome flavor balance with the malt profile. A highly enjoyable offering.

11.2 oz bottle that I would not have bought had I noticed the price tag. Pours black with a light brown head. Spicy chocolatey aroma, roasty coffee, vanilla. Very rich chocolatey flavor, roasty coffee with some chili pepper flavor. Rich roasty coffee and chocolate flavor with a chili pepper and ashen edge. A really great imperial stout... though I still shouldn’t have bought it for $16.

5oz pour at Rustico Ballston is a pitch black, oily too, with a ring of beige head. Nose is thick with roasted malts and molasses, German chocolate cake, mild peppercorn, brownie batter. Flavor follows, brownie batter, molasses, licorice, mild dried fruit, peppercorn. The chili is there, it’s warming, in fact, it’s complimentary. Full bodied, thick, lightly warming/prickly finish. Solid.

Bottle. Jet black color, extremely dark brown head. Aroma of burnt espresso, chili, dark cocoa. Taste is chili, chocolate, dark coffee. Very tasty.