Licorice notes. Very aged. Almost like a "fine wine" only not a "wine" and not all that fine (if that makes sense). Molasses pour. No head. Rated 4/12/10

Bottle. A very nice beer with varied layers. Pours dark, amber-gold with a strong head. Nose of dark fruits and oak, mostly. Plenty of sweetness in the flavor, with notes of raisins, pear, spices, caramel and toffee. Pretty thick in the body with a syrupy, sticky finish. Mild warming. Really quite good.

Bottle. Cloudy, chunky straw yellow, medium white head that settles to islands. Solid lacing. Aroma of sour orange, rising bread dough and dust. Taste is sour grapefruit with a bit of sulphur. Difficult to finish.

VERY hazy brown coloured body with a dense, thick, long-lasting tan head - muddy looking. Aroma of raisins, roasted malt, alcohol and a touch of yeast. Medium-bodied; Assertive hop flavour with a lot of sugars, some malt, raisins and a couple of nuts in the mix. Aftertaste fairly muted, bland and very simplistic - no complex flavours and nothing in the range of a typical imperial stout. Overall, an interesting beer - strong, but not to the level you’d expect, a bit odd in the flavours, even for a belgian stout. Definitely worth trying, as you don’t find to many beers of this style. I sampled this pudgy 33 cL bottle purchased from Liquor Outlet in Boonton, New Jersey on 14-March-2010, sampled at home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on 10-April-2010.

First sample very young. To be retried in a couple of weeks. Towering dense yellow head, slowly collapsing over very carbonated hazy yellow beer with an olive shine. Strangely but unmistakably smoked first impression, followed by the typical Smisje wry-fruity yeast smell. Very dry, and really bitter, wry to harsh lupulin flavour. No relief from resiny or citrussy notes; truly herbal-weedy; not unlike pure laurel powder, without much of the laurel aroma. Some tart fruity yeast notes. Warming up, phenolic notes. Well-carbonated, slick, medium bodied. 3/5 Hoppiness really harsh at the moment. Second sample following in weeks. Final version: Points for this final version! Good fluffy white head over pale copper-golden beer. Bit of curry and nearly-fresh hops. On thing remains: the lactic/yoghurt touch, found and forgotten. Harsh hoppiness as good as gone. Quite slick, aftertaste even more lactic. Definitely better than the first draw. The hops are integrated better, but maybe they might lack a bit of character now. Still - OK!

Bottle (much different label). Huge, tan head over a hazy amber orange body. Aroma of brown sugar, pineapple upside-down cake, apple brandy (calvados), pitted fruit. Taste is tangy, browns sugar, toffee, canned pineapple, pitted fruit, figs. Interesting, alcohol, light spiciness. Something I cannot put my finger on. Some brandy burn. A bit of harsh bitterness. Creamy carbonation with a light cotton candy sweetness and some dry wood tannins.

Bottle. Pours with a hazy amber-orange body with a large, off-white head. Aroma of belgian yeast, caramel, raisins, grass and hay. Taste is alcohol, wheat, grass, candi sugar, light spice and a bit bitter. Creamy carbonation with an odd lingering aftertaste.

Pours deep hazy amber into a trappist glass. White head with medium retention recedes to skim surface. Orange and yeasty caramel aromas. Strong alcohol and full sweet orange marmalade and nutmeg spiced lasting hot burn

Sampled on tap at Max’s Belgian Fest. This is the strangest looking imperial stout I’ve ever seen. Pours a translucent, purpleish amber. Aroma of malts, candy sugar, yeast. Flavor is sweet, dried fruits, bread. No toast or coffee flavors anywhere. Candy sugar mostly. Medium bodied, lasting sweetness. Call this what you want, but it looks, smells, tastes and feels like a Quad. Nothing like a traditional Imperial Stout.