Bottle: Pours a cloudy reddish brown with a large beige head and lots of lacing. Nose is fruity, caramel, and toffee. Tastes sweet with the fruitiness of plum and raison, hints of caramel and nuts. Subtle chocolate. Rather creamy feel, I enjoyed this much better after I let the bottle warm. Too bad I had already drank about a third of my share!

750ml. Dark brownish color, with tanish head, good lacing. Malty aroma, with a similar malty flavor, with a hint of what seemed to be chocolate.

Bottle from santa - dark amber pour with a thick, creamy, tan head - some dry, mineral-like smell in the initial sniff, but closer inspection reveals some raisins, port/vinous notes, slight candi sugar sweetness - the flavor is pretty dry up front for the style, and this quality couples well with a cocoa flavor - a toffee and dark fruit sweetness creeps in, but this is balanced out by a semi-tart, red wine character - light chocolate and a kind of stale bitterness at the end - probably the most complex of these beers I’ve had so far, but there’s no way it holds up to the better examples of the style.