Shortlived beige head over ebony beer. Rich black chocolate and wood nose, slightly sweet. A bit of tobacco as well, very roasted. Very dry wood flavour, plywood, touches of coffee and bitter chocolate. Ever so slight malty sweetness, tucked away under the dry bitterish roast. Ends on a sweeter note, hazelnut-like. Quite slick, medium bodied at best. Quite decent porter, txs to Stephen. I could not identify the cinnamon.

Bottle from blankboy. Deep brown opaque body, thin-medium tan head. Chocolatey, toasty aroma with touches of spice. Cinnamon is more pronounced in the flavor than in the nose. Otherwise a roasty, chocolatey porter, but leans towards a spice beer due to the potent cinnamon. Medium-bodied with a lingering bitter finish. Not bad, but the porter is of average complexity minus the cinnamon.

Bottle: Poured a black color porter with small foamy dark brown head with good retention. Aroma of roasted malt with some light cinnamon. Taste is quite rich with a nice dose of roasted malt and some spices, which definitely includes cinnamon. Notes of chocolate and coffee are identifiable but a more important presence would have been nice. Body is above average.

2003 Vintage:
Dark brown in colour with a nice lighter brown head. Although, when held up to the light, the beer looks like a very strong violet colour-dark ruby highlights dominate the appearance. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, slight vanilla and sour lactic quality. Medium to Light-bodied; Strong bittering malt with large cofee overtones. Some canella is present, but not much. A bit of the sour quality arises in the taste, but pretty much a straight malt-shot. Aftertaste bittered from the coffee and the roasted malt, but nice for the style. Overall, a good spiced porter, definately good to try! Many thanks to Jeremy (jercraigs) for hand-delivering this twelve ounce bottle! I sampled this beer on 07-December-2003.

Dark brown. Medium to full bodied, nutty, dry, big roasty flavour. .........

Dark brown; Aroma of dark chocolate, hazelnuts, rich coffee; the palate combines rich cappucino with pralines, leaf hops, a hint of cinnamon and an old woodiness that reminded me of those dilapidated wooden fences you see around farmer's fields. The finish is long, roasty and quite dry (I think I would have preferred the finish to be a little sweeter myself). All in all, an impressive seasonal offereing, and a good replacement for the departed Taylor & Bate Porter (RIP).