The best Irish beer of last year according to Altech, an imperial stout aged for four months on oloroso sherry barrels which had previously contained Irish whisky. Stubby, classy, lovely old-fashioned bottle from the Mitra in Lelystad, northern Netherlands. Thin, pale greyish beige, opening but still proportionally stable had lacing in 'speckles' over a black beer with a very thin burgundy edge only visible under bright light. Lovely bouquet of 'dusty' old black chocolate bars, old walnuts, dry oak wood, liquorish candy, touches of subtle whisky and equally subtle sherry (without that typical oloroso tartness though), salmiak, hints of beef stock cubes, polishing wax, old vanilla beans, juniper, dried thyme. Dryish onset with dried plum and old raisin sweetishness but restrainedly so, soft carbonation, full and oily, somewhat resinous mouthfeel. Profound bitter-toasty and rounded walnutty middle with a sweetish 'fondant' chocolate edge but much more bitter than sweet in all, shifting to 'old school' black coffee roastedness without becoming too ashy or earthy and keeping itself well in place, with a very thin metallic touch somewhere. Woody finish, oak furniture tannins, more whisky- than sherry-coloured with a warming alcohol glow rather than outspoken liquor heat, paired with lingering coffee roastedness, a spicy hop 'kiss' and a light leathery accent. Well, this was a very lovely stout indeed: nowhere too exuberant or extreme like most American style imperial stouts tend to be, just an old school Irish stout at imperial strength, with the barrel aging effect integrated into the whole in a relatively subtle, but utterly tasteful way. This is not a big sweet stout drowning in whisky or sherry booze: this is an imperial stout the old way, the original imperial stout profile let's say, extremely well made and not needing to hide flaws behind barrel aging and booze - the barrel is just an extra adornment to an already fantastic beer. I adore old school stouts like this - this is the kind of beer that got me into stout originally and this deserves a much higher rating here.