Bottle shared with Countbeer. Opaque pitch black color, medium sized medium to dark brown colored head that lasts for quite a while. Aroma is malts, roasted malts lightly, milk chocolate, firmly bourbon and vanilla. Taste is malts, again milk chocolate, heavy bourbon and vanilla, slightly floral, sweetish initially but with a moderate bitter finish. I like the aroma better than the flavor though, too much vanilla -while also clearly present in the aroma- in the flavor for me to really love it. Full body, oily texture, average to medium carbonation.

Bottle obtained in a trade with Adam. Pours jet black, with a good, dark head. Smell is very intense and roasty. Taste is intense, bourbon (much bourbon) mild vanilla in the back, just enough to be perfect. Very creamy mouthfeel, and low carbo (the way I like it ) Much dark malts, giving the perfect balance between bourbon and beer. Yes, this is pretty damn nice ! Its still kept ’simple’ in a way, not as different than others like the Vanilla bourbon county, not as crazy good mouthfeel as assassin or kbbs. Another way to describe this -less negative- would be it’s more balanced than the ones previously mentioned. Opinions shall always be divided. All that is certain, is that this is a damn fine beer, and cycle just won over a big critic since I disliked previous big imperial stouts in the DOS series... Thumbs up !

[9/26/15] Bottle sample at Borefts Beer Festival 2015 in Bodegraven. Thanks everyone who shared bottles! Black with a brown head. Big aroma of bourbon, chocolate, vanilla. Sweet flavor with chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, cookies, caramel. Full-bodied, rounded. Great.

Bottle - Sweet molasses, vanilla and coconut. Jet brown with a nice brown head. Sweet, barrel and long bittersweet chocolate and a nice long coconut finish.

THX to DSG! Bomber sampled @ Borefts 2015. Day 2. Oily deep black, small mocha head. Nose is sweet huge caramel, pure bourbon, huge sweet bourbon vanilla goodness, caramel, sugar, rich decadent. Taste is huge thick huge sweet desert bourbon, brown sugar, vanilla, sweet sugar, candy, caramel, thick mocha, decadent thick desert goodness. Super thick. Spectacular,… Much love.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Cycle Nooner #9 (by Cycle Brewing):
Aroma: 10/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 9/10, Palate: 5/5, Overall: 18/20, MyTotalScore: 4.5/5

26/IX/15 - 1Pt. 6Fl. Oz. bottle @ Borefts 2015 (Bodegraven) - BB: n/a (2015-1379) Thanks to DSG for sharing the bottle!

Clear dark brown to black beer, creamy beige head, very stable, non adhesive. Aroma: bourbon, vanilla, caramel, crème brûlée, sweet, mocha, alcohol, heavy. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body. Taste: sweet, mocha, roasted, bourbon, vanilla, alcohol, bit sourish. Aftertaste: alcohol, bourbon, dark chocolate, bitter, coffee.

Bottle thanks to Brian. Pours a dark brown with small beige head that lasts. The aroma is strong vanilla bean, roast, bourbon. Thick mouth, roast, dark chocolate, vanilla bean, bitter finish, very nice.

Getting a lot of high scores from folks with 10 ratings, which makes everybody assume it is hyped. Lets see here. Of course, I love a good Impy, and I love vanilla and Rye barrel aging, so this could be a problem. :). Bottle thanks to 50belair! Pours opaque black with a medium creamy brown head that lasts and laces well. So far, so good. Aroma is rich and chocolate, vanilla and bourbon notes with some molasses, coconut and toasted marshmallow. Very nice. Flavor is medium sweet, light bitter, quite chocolate and roasty, bourbon, coconut, hints of toffee. Vanilla present but surprisingly muted. Lingering bitterness on the palate. Medium plus body, creamy mouthfeel, not hot despite the ABV. This is a great Impy, just a notch below the best in class. For reference, this score puts it in my top 100 imperial stouts rated, but not in my top 50. It actually seems a bit better than that, but I will let it go.