Bottle. Dark brown with a beige head. Nutty aroma with chocolate and earthy, smoky chile. Quite thin bodied, almost milky. Tastes as it smells with moderate mocha sweetness and gentle chile. Earthy finish with chicory. Tasty (but perhaps not enough so for 7.7%), well mannered.

Bottle 0.33l at Black Door, Helsinki. Colour is black with very small brown head. Aromas and flavours: Smoke, tar, rum, chocolate and roasted malts. Not as soft as expected but still enjoyable.

(Bottle, 0.33 l, at Hilpeä Hauki, 20131001) The beer poured black. Its head was small and lightly brown. Aroma had smoke, wood, peat and roasted malts. Palate was full bodied and dry with medium carbonation. Flavours were roasted malts, rum, wood, smoke, sweetness and low bitterness. Aftertaste had wood, rum, sweetness and bitterness. The barrel was pushing through too heavily.

(Bottle, 0.33 l, at Hilpeä Hauki, 20131001) The beer poured amber and hazy. Its head was small and white. Aroma had cognac and malts. Palate was medium bodied and dry with medium carbonation. Flavours were fruitiness, wood, cognac, sweetness, malts and bitterness. Aftertaste was sweet, woody, hoppy and bitter. A gimmick and not a good one.

(Bottle, 0.33 l, at Hilpeä Hauki, 20131001) The beer poured black. Its head was small and almost white. Aroma had cherries and spices. Palate was medium bodied with medium carbonation. Flavours were roastedness, cherries, sourness, sweetness and bitterness. Aftertaste had cherries and low bitterness. An interesting experiment resulting in a weird Christmas beer. Not bad though.

Pours black with a quickly fading head.Nose shows peated malt, smoke, soft rum, roasted barley and soft coffee. The peat is pretty full0on.Intense flavours, more peat and rum at the forefront with a heavy whack of roast malt and booze. Finishes hot.Carbonation is all but flat, could really be higher.

Bottle. Black with a light tan head that settles to a 1/2cm and lasts well. Aroma of chocolate, sweet dough, molasses/ rum, nutmeg, blackberries, peat. Thinner body than expected and much more peaty than suggested by the aroma. Sweet rum, coffee, with appley tanginess coming though as well as peppery and prickly spices. OK, lots of interesting things going on but rather let down by the lack of body. Maybe the barrel influence is a bit much for me as well.

Pours amber with a fading head.Very hoppy aroma, more piny, grassy and floral than fruity though. Also a fair whack of spicy hops later. Some biscuity sweet malt underneath.Pretty aggressive flavours, lots of piny and spicy hops followed by biscuity and grainy malt. Finishes dry with a resounding bitterness.A little too highly carbonated.

From a 330ml bottle on 31/8/2013. Pours a murky light amber with just a hint of a head. Has a relatively subdued aroma for a DIPA but still quite pleasant, with a good dose of fruity hops, yeast and a hint of caramel. Much bigger in the mouth, where a cognac and resin hop bitterness features most prominently, but you also get a mild caramel malt background, some sweet stone and citrus fruit (particularly orange and apricot), spices and a touch of booze. Has a fullish body and mild carbonation. While it’s perhaps a whisker away from being outstanding, this is none the less a very interesting, unusual and genuinely enjoyable brew. Big props to Moon Dog, who are clearly intent on making unusual, challenging beers. Rating 3.9.

Re-rate on 18/9/2018. Not much add to the above, though perhaps just a touch less enamoured. Bold and intense - with a big lemony, herbal, resin bitterness dominating proceedings at the finish.