Black with a minimal light brown head. Aroma of roasted malt, wooden barrels, dark chocolate and dark fruits sense. Sweet with a warm wooden barrels and dark chocolate end. BB 06.2021, bought at Alko Rovaniemi, FIN nov2019

Can. Almost no head, pours completely black. Aroma is complex, layered dark malts, caramel, coffee, chocolate, lots of dark malts. Quite a bit of fruitiness and berries as well, pine and earthy; I feel like the hops give this quite a bit of additional complexity on top of the dark malts, giving this a bit of a foresty note. Medium to big body, not super thick. Flavour is intense and complex dark malts, lot more roasted barley than I expected from aroma but balanced nicely by chocolate malt and flavours of chocolate, espresso, lots of roastiness, licorice. Medium to high bitterness, balances a medium sweetness. Still a touch of pine, some earthy flavours and indeed a bit jammy, blackberry and blueberry. A bit of burnt flavours, especially in the finish, with a bit of charred wood. Hint of cinnamon and vanilla in the finish, as well as bittersweet chocolate and a bit earthy. Long finish. Lovely. Really brings out the specialty dark malts and I am happy that the hops are accentuated as well (something which is sadly not that common in imperial stouts)!

Can picked up from Buxton Webshop, München, had this at home Attenkirchen Saturday 23rd May 2020, whilst on a lengthy zoom call with Jude and Baz. Pours black with a tan head. Aroma is roasty, a little hint of hedgerow fruits, woody (burnt & wet) some vanilla, chocolate. Very smooth in the mouth, taste is as above, with a little black pepper, really full bodied. Excellent.

Can at home picked up from beer ritz. An opaue, brown black coloured pour with a creamy dark tan head, Aroma is earthy roast, liquorice , charred wood, cow pat, Earthyu roast, spice, pine, dark choc. Flavour is composed of semi sweet, liquorice, black roast, jammy fruit, little cinnamon, some vanilla. Really fucking good. Rich, jammy fruit. blackberry. . Palate is semi sweet, light tang, blackberry, dark choc. Rich.

4/5/2020. Sample courtesy of the SHIG, cheers! Pours rich dark mahogany brown / almost black with a small creamy beige head. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, nut, coffee and dark fruits. Moderate sweetness and medium roasted bitterness. Full body, slick texture, soft carbonation. Deep bitter roast finish. Very drinkable.

Renewed version of the barrel aged Rain Shadow by Buxton, aged on bourbon barrels. Bottle of now almost a year old, bought from Gedeelde Vreugde in Sint-Niklaas (in between Ghent and Antwerp). Initially thick and foamy, membrane-lacing, deep brownish mocha coloured head, thinning until almost nothing of it is left, but slowly so; pitch black robe with thin burgundy edges. Intense nose of cold espresso, whisky, lots of bitter black chocolate, dusty old wood, hard caramel, bayleaf, dry old walnuts, dry chocolate cake, pipe tobacco ashes, molasses, cigars in a cedarwood case, hints of Worcestershire sauce, salmiak, treacle, nutmeg and black olives. Very focused and intense, yet elegant flavour profile: restrained dried prune sweetishness at first, paired with light sourishness underneath and a faint dash of black olive umami, softly carbonated with a very thick, oily but smooth body. Profoundly walnutty, toasted-bready, hard-caramelly and bitter-chocolatey malt profile, complex and layered, bittersweet but putting more emphasis on bitterness than on sweetness, though a sweeter chocolatey effect surely lingers on. 'Blood'-like metallic effects subtly pop up here and there but feel completely natural, an inherent part of the play; ends very coffeeish-roasted, even a tad ashy, drenched in drying woody tannins and a strong, hot and boozy bourbon flavour, accompanied by hints of salmiak and bayleaf - but also a very pronounced, spicy hop bitterness managing to pierce through the thick roasty maltiness, adding a vibrant, pleasantly peppery effect. Long, complex finish, very boozy as expected yet somehow this booziness manages to avoid damaging drinkability - while oaky 'vanilla' notes linger retronasally. Intensely, deeply and respectfully old school, maintaining relative drinkability in spite of all its intensity (a difficult exercise), with a roasty, rustic effect that is only intensified by the bourbon barrel treatment - the standard Rain Shadow is enough of a masterpiece as it is, but this is one of those examples where liquor barrel ageing has actually improved the basic beer. And with the basic beer already being a 'chef-d'oeuvre', well... One of the best stout ever to come out of England and reach my taste buds, consolidating my view on this brewery as being among the very best of England, even with very stiff competition going on throughout the country.

Can: Poured a deep pitch black with a thin brown head. Aroma is huge roasted malts, light chocolate. Taste is roasted malts, dark chocolate, sweetness in the middle but bold in the finish. Some alcohol burn.

Bottle at home from Malt Attacks, Brussels, 13th March 2020. Pours black and thick. Aroma is pungent, liquor, barrel, wood, dark chocolate. Taste is smooth, wood, barrel, good dose of bourbon, vanilla character, liquorice, leather, dry finish. Excellent imperial stout, another cracker from Buxton