2006 bottle from The_Enemy, consumed on 8/12/06.
Strong pour yields a small, but quite creamy, dark sandy-tan head. Some sediment left on the bottom, with medium to medium-low clarity in the deep black liquid. Deep violet tinges on the sides spell plenty of roasted barley. Head remains at cover, with some light lacing.Bittersweet nose at first, with deep chocolate cake icing, fudge and roasted barley vinousness. Very even and soothing, without any mess of overdone hops. Growing lightly tart/sour as it warms, with more of a transparent aroma, showing off the chocolate malt, light black malt smokiness and some salty toffee flavors. Rather complex and certainly not overdone. No sign of the 12% in the nose. More reassuringly strong in the nose, than assertive.
And it translates well to the flavor. Creamy, malted milk shake flavors up front, with a very creamy, well-malted mouthfeel that has sugars oozing everywhere. But decidedly balanced by a blossoming roastiness, drying out further on the finish, with a lightly lip-curling smokiness. Some traces of tar and treacle remain on the palate. Very much milk-chocolatey, through and through, with lightly tart lactic notes taking the place of hops and enlivening things. Low carbonation, moderately complex and the smoke is well-appreciated. No sign of 12 percent, hard to believe it’s that high. Great brewer.

2006 bottle from the_Enemy consumed some time in June 2006.
Quite a dark bodied APA, mine almost seemed a deep chestnut-amber, medium-high clarity with some softer orange hues on the edges. Head is nearly creamy, well-retained and laces somewhat as it eventually recedes to cover.
Fully fruity hops in the nose are balanced immediately by chocolate-caramel notes, strong base malt sugars and just a rapturous perceived-body. Hops stick to the nose, with ruby red grapefruit, sweet oranges and definitely some light cherries. No clash between the darker malts and the poigant hops, whatsoever. They did a wonderful job aroma hopping or dry hopping it, because it dosent come off that bitter.
In the mouth, the beer remains well supported by sweet malts (not too sweet), light caramel, heavily toasted grains and just a light touch of coffee giving a snappy dryness on the end. The hops are overlaid well, but are a touch less fruity in the flavor. More dry and crisp with some hints of sweet grapefruit, but mostly moderate citrus, some floral bitterness and a grapefruit rind note that lingers lightly. Some light yeast nuttiness shows freshness and livliness in the beer. Carbonation is moderate, engaging enough without being burdensome. Body ranges from lightly sticky (maltwise) to crisp on the end, as the hops take over.

12 oz from The_Enemy, consumed on 6/8/06. Deep mahogany colored body shows light filtration, some sediment on the bottom. Brass and rust tones swirl about on the edges, as the small deep beige head slowly recedes to cover and ring, with little to no lacing. Smells like an American brewpub porter in the nose. Light vanilla and char, with that dullness from the heavy roast. Very light chocolate and just a hint of tobacco. Very weak aroma, strengthwise, but with perceptible quality. Flavor is dull black malt, which I’m pretty sure I hate. Definite char and oily fish from the black malt and crunchy coffee from the roasted barley. Some sweet base malts add sugars the combine to produce a happy medium of choco-caramel sweetness, but a strong black ashiness also sits on the end. A dull, yeasty, almost vanilla-creme-like milkiness stops the aftertaste from lingering. Too much dead malt and a bit watery, though no alcohol noted. Carbonation is low to moderate, with medium-sized, unremarkable bubbles.

Sampled at the 3Floyd’s Dark Lord party. Imperial? I don’t think so. More akin to a Two Brothers Northwind. Then again, I’m trying it with Dark Lord much on my mind. Lighter in taste, then, than I’m looking for, but with a kind of okay fruity finish.

Twelve percent? Wow, this was the thinnest 12% I’ve yet come across - more of a dark brown than the black I would expect - quite nutty, with quite a bit of artificial sweetness dominating - some earthy, woody notes try to make things interesting, but really don’t.

Sampled at MrFacto’s ’Tosa tasting, thanks to DavidP. Dark chestnut brown body, thin/medium light tan head. Aroma of coffee, coffee cream, chocolate, and roasted malts, pretty standard for a sweet stout. Flavor was pretty heavy on the coffee too with coffee cream and plenty of toasty black malt chalkiness as well as baker’s chocolate. Thin-medium body; pretty standard flavor profile. Decent, not great.