8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Bottle from Stacks. Hazy brown, stable, foamy, tan head. Aroma of candied date & plum, toffee, wet wood, Turkish delight, dessert wine, sherry, liquorice, brandy. Taste has very sweet date, fig & plum in a caramelly, syrupy malt body with soft herbal & phenolic notes. Herbal hoppy finish, lingering dried fruits, somewhat vinous, woody, and a good dash of sherry- or brandy-like alcohol. Full body, sticky-syrupy texture, soft carbonation. Very sweet, but in a delicate way.

7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Small rim over syrupy black beer. Cigarette/cigar ashes, cigarleaf, sweet roast, meatcrust, Maillard, overripe banana, cypress/cedar. Again cigar, smoke, really dry, but also a whiff of stale cloth, plums on alcohol. Later reverting to mildly sweet gingerbread flavours. Sticky feel; oily-chewy, viscous, feels a bit better carbonated than it looks. Dry, powerful stout; very rewarding.

8.3

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

330 ml bottle. Pours black with moderate dark tan head. Aromas of dark fruity chocolate, molasses and slick roasted malts. Flavors of black coffee, mocha, dusty dark chocolate, molasses and oily roasted malts. Can’t get much of the barrel, but still very tasty.

8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

330 ml bottle. Pours a very dark brown with short tan head. Aromas of oak, peat, nutty chocolate and roasted malts. Flavors follow same; peat is in nice proportion and doesn’t overpower the base stout. For whatever reason I smell and taste peanuts! The peaty barrel? Anyway, it’s very good.

8.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8

Bottle from Stacks. Jet black, stable, small, foamy, dark beige (almost brown) head. Intense aroma of peated whisky, peat & iodine, soy sauce, tobacco, fondant, pecan, shoe polish, praliné, vanilla bean, espresso. Taste has sweet dried fig, prune & pear in a thick dark-chocolatey, pecan-nutty (as in pecan pie) and hazelnutty malt body; thin layer of umami soy and bitter espresso. Peppery hoppy finish, lingering coffee, touch of liquorice, very slightly metallic for some reason (but could be also be the medicinal effect of the peat, not disturbing anyway), tobacco and evidently a warming alcohol glow of peated whisky. Full body, (thick) oily texture, soft carbonation. I always expected a decent standard given the other examples in Brambrass's broad range, but this one even exceeds that level. Lovely stuff and of course I'm a peat fan.

7

Malty. Clean. Well balanced. Good.

8.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

330 ml bottle. Pours a near black with short dark tan head. Aromas of bourbon, chocolate nougat, vanilla, and slick roasted malts. Flavors follow same with a bit more emphasis on bourbon, plus bitter dark chocolate and a bit of oak. Great stuff.

7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

330 ml bottle. Pours a very dark reddish brown with moderate head. Aromas of fruity chocolate, creamy coffee, vanilla, and slick roasted malts. Flavors of nutty chocolate, fruity coffee, tobacco, and dry roasted malts. No hint of the ABV. Very different and interesting hop effects. Very nice.

8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

330 ml bottle. Pours a very dark brown with slight tan head. Aromas of caramel, subtle oaky cognac, chocolate, and soft roasted malt malts. Flavors follow same with more pronounced oaky cognac, a bit of nougat and a touch of smoke. Very good.