8.6/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle #67/115. John (hopsrus) was generous enough to share this beauty with Jeff (TAR) and myself. Perfect appearance, opaque and dark with a creamy light tan head. Wood and bourbon are strong in the aroma along with alcohol and underlying roasted dry chocolate. Flavor is also heavily influenced by the barrel aging, with bourbon and wood character finishing with a creamy, buttery coffee and roasted chocolate malt medley. Smooth and velvety palate; this is not a sticky Imperial, but it is smooth as silk. I can understand why this is currently the top-rated beer on the site, though I would be interested to taste this (2002) batch without the effect of barrel aging and the bourbon flavors aging imparts.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Feb 2004
at 20:01
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Lightish amber, full foamy head. Resiny and floral aroma, bare hint of citrus. Thickish resiny mouthfeel, with tingly resin flavors. Pine flavors linger above a strongly bitter, somewhat ashy and dry finish. As with their Extra Pale Ale, this beer hides the malt, although what is there is clean and sweet, with a roundish front - but the hop resins dominate quickly and coat the tongue. This is perhaps a good candidate for cellaring.
Tried
from Can
on 28 Jan 2004
at 13:23
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Cloudy yellow gold with large foaming creamy head, lasting the entire glass, leaving scattered clumpy lace. Aroma is clearly of hops, with notes of pine, orange rind and grapefruit. A buttercream aroma is almost noticeable. Flavor starts with a piney/resiny bite, a clean sweet malt shows up in the middle, with the finish featuring a resiny twang and lingering bitterness. Despite the prominence of hops, this does not masquerade as an IPA. All of the flavors are light, under-stated, and fairly well balanced (although the malt could be more pronounced). A very nice and drinkable APA. The back label mentions this as a popular choice at a real ale festival, and I can imagine this from the cask, and I want some. Frankly, if I had regular access to a cask pale ale of this caliber on a regular basis, I'd hardly drink anything else.
Tried
from Can
on 28 Jan 2004
at 13:21
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
2023-04-13, can, 03/29/21, 2 years old, 7-4-8-4-17=40
It's very peppery; spicy coffee character, but it's also smooth; the roasted beans character is dominant, but it still manages to be enjoyable. It may be at its age peak.
2021-08-20, can from The Gull, North Vancouver, canned 5 months ago, 7-4-8-4-17=40
Good body, smooth mouthfeel, moderately sweet; it has a quite potent roasted malt (coffee?) character, but it's balanced, and it doesn't have common defects such as green peppers or liquorice; maybe warming, but overall the alcohol is managed well. Possibly a tad young. It performs better than I was expecting.
2017-08-16, bottle, vintage 2015, 2 years old, 7-4-8-4-17=40
Black color. Perfect balance with dark chocolate, light residual sweetness, hint of liquorice.
2012-09-28, at Pibar, Lausanne, 7-4-8-4-15=38
Black color, creamy head. Aroma of roasted malt and coffee, creamy, with some cardboard, some firewood. Round and smooth mouthfeel, strong flavor of roasted malt, coffee, moderate sweetness, very good dark chocolate, quite strong liquorice, strong bitterness.
Good, but tonight it seems excessive and inelegant.
2004-01-10, courtesy of Philippe (Bov), 9-4-10-5-18=46
Dark brown; poor head. The aroma is original: sweet, malt, roasted malt, caramel, sweet liquorice, fudge, very light phenol, dark chocolate. Very thick, the thickest!, oily, sweet, good malt, roasted malt, coffee, caramel, liquorice and a touch of Fernet Branca. So powerful!
Thanks a lot Philippe (Bov) for sharing this excellent beer.
Tried
from Can
on 12 Jan 2004
at 04:12
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
At the 3F 12/27 Birthday gathering...I understand this is rare and older stuff...and I'm grateful to have tried it, its rather wonderful. Amber color, med thick head. Bubblegum and clove aroma. Caramelized gum flavor. Full finish.
Tried
on 05 Jan 2004
at 11:58
8.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 10
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Woo doggie, this is one awesome IPA - Floral hops and sweet candy in the aroma - golden with a slight copper tint, decent lacework - BAM, extreme yet balanced attack of hops and malty sweetness on the palate - apricots, citrus (grapefruit) - tingly carbonation - some pine in the mix - a world-class IPA.
Tried
from Can
on 14 Dec 2003
at 21:57
9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
[have had the opportunity tom have this beer countless more times since my initial rating and, while it is still awesome, I can no longer justify the perfect score - sorry speedway stout!] Holy crap! Many thanks to Hi-time wine’s new online ordering system and speedy delivery - this beer is amazing - completely opaque, slight dark tan head - heavy, thick, aroma of dark coffee, molassas and caramel - extraordinarily chewy body, thick mouthfeel - amazing and complex flavor - slightly sweet at first, then some intense bitter-sweet chocolate and lots (and I mean LOTS) of coffee - hop bitterness creeps its way in - very well hidden alcohol content, and the bitterness balances out the initial sweetness very well, keeping it from being cloying, which is often the downfall of such hig alcohol brews - this is imperial stout heaven - equal to expedition stout in my mind, perhaps even better. I have to give it a 5, regardless of its almost complete lack of head. It’s just that good.
Tried
from Can
on 12 Dec 2003
at 21:50
7.9/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
2003 bottle. Great reddish-copper with some lighter yellows and oranges. Small off-white head that lingers on throughout much of the beer. Good amount of lacing. Hazy and bottle conditioned! I would theorize that you can judge most bitters by their aroma. This one has smells of sweet nuttiness, caramel malt, nice medium-dry floral hops. Delicate but strong. Begins with a mix of lightly bitter hops which are beautifully wedded to a lovely caramel malt. Floral spiciness apparent throughout and bottle conditioning provides for a unique peppery texture due to natural carbonation to give the beer a little bite. Not seein much fruit, maybe some apricots and light peaches towards the finish. Medium body, dripping with quality. Subtle. Maybe a slight astringency on the end of the finish due to more hops than malt, but nothing substantial.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Nov 2003
at 13:26
9.2/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 10
Texture 8
Overall 9
2003 bottle Coincidentally, I think the last super-hyped beer that lived up to my expectations was Bell’s Expedition. And there were many similarities. However, this one was more creamier and malted, with lots more cofee. Aroma was amazing, smelled like a nice mocha latte, with some alcohol. Some hops aroma as well. I was also impressed with the ultra black opaque appearance AND a nice lasting coffee colored head. Commences with a velvety smooth coffee/chocolate malt flavor, super creamy texture, hardly any carbonation, coffee is not overdone. Full body and just when I am hoping for the hops to balance it, they do. Finishes with a mix between roasted malt, dry hops and a punch of alcohol, moderately bitter. The alcohol is so well masked and though you can definitely tell it’s there on the finish, it does not interrupt the body whatsoever. I swirled this beer around in my mouth and it was just perfect, so many malty flavors and just so wonderfully balanced. This one is incredible and really dosent even seem to need to be cellared (whereas Expedition comes off as quite young). This is as close to perfect as it gets. Maybe could use a little less bitterness on the finish, as the strong coffee, dry hops and alcohol pack a huge wallop that really shocks you coming off of the mellow, velvety body. But hey, I think it just adds character, hard to really find much fault here. Thanks again for the trade Bob. Rerate. After having Dark Lord, the magic of this is slightly paled, but it’s still fantasticly world class stuff.
2005 bottle sampled 10/27/2005 with SuIIy. Wow. It’s hard to believe this is a young impy stout. No edge on this at all. Exquisite appearance, mouthfeel and aroma. Superbly balanced. I never noted too much coffee in the least. I might even like this more than the 2003. Perhaps not as complex and powerful, but what it lacks in that, it makes up in sheer enjoyable flavor and balance. Raising the score a bit. 9/5/10/5/18
2003 bottle aged between 26-30 months Aging stouts with huge amounts of real coffee in them has not seemed to work out greatly. I think controlling the effect of the coffee over time is very difficult to predict and does have odd reactions with the rest of the beer. That being said, this was still very respectably preserved. The body had thinned out considerably and the carbonation was very low. Alcohol was too prevalent, while malt sweetness seemed much much less than when young. I had cellared this very carefully the whole way, but I think this one just dosent last that long, or rather, is better drunk fresh.
2005 bottle sampled 10/27/2005 with SuIIy. Wow. It’s hard to believe this is a young impy stout. No edge on this at all. Exquisite appearance, mouthfeel and aroma. Superbly balanced. I never noted too much coffee in the least. I might even like this more than the 2003. Perhaps not as complex and powerful, but what it lacks in that, it makes up in sheer enjoyable flavor and balance. Raising the score a bit. 9/5/10/5/18
2003 bottle aged between 26-30 months Aging stouts with huge amounts of real coffee in them has not seemed to work out greatly. I think controlling the effect of the coffee over time is very difficult to predict and does have odd reactions with the rest of the beer. That being said, this was still very respectably preserved. The body had thinned out considerably and the carbonation was very low. Alcohol was too prevalent, while malt sweetness seemed much much less than when young. I had cellared this very carefully the whole way, but I think this one just dosent last that long, or rather, is better drunk fresh.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Oct 2003
at 17:25
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Along with the Poseidon, I would also like to rate this one on a fresh palate. Wee Heavy finished the night at Fort Wayne, topping off 12 hours of sampling at thedm's place! Red-brown appearance, with a thin, light, tan head. Slightly cloudy. Aroma was earthy and woody. Flavor was earthy malts, and I was surprised not to detect much "twigs 'n berries" subtlety in the finish. A nice, smooth drink, but not among my favorite Scottish Ales at this point in time. A retasting may be in store, just in case my palate was on the wane. Matt (thedm), Mike (bigbadbear63), Jim (flemdawg) and I were plenty sleepy after this brute!
Tried
on 19 Oct 2003
at 16:32