Clear dark brown, nearly black, small lacing offwhite head. Caramely, nutty aroma. Malty, caramely flavour with some dried fruit and light alc warmth. Finishes a little thin, otherwise quite nice. A few years past BBD hasn’t hurt this one.

Bottle split at RB Best Hotel Lobby Share, post festival, 31/01/16. Pale golden blonde with a decent off white covering. Nose is pale malts, straw, lemon rind, grassy vibes, light herb. Taste comprises citric tinged straw, biscuit, spice, vanilla, lemon rind, bready notes, light yeat tickle. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, drying close. So so.

Bottle split at L42, thanks to LKS, 23/01/17. Chestnut brown with a decent beige cap. Nose is toffee, spice, fruit esters, light tobacco, dark malts. Taste comprises liquid fruit cake, biscuit, charr, cocoa powder, toffee, fruit rinds, light spice. Medium body, fine carbonation, semi drying close. Decent sipper, fairly mellow for the ABV.

Bottle - Vintage 2014 - Dark fudgy chocolate. Jet black with a decent light brown head. Big dark chocolate, cocoa and light dark raisin.

Bottle shared by Leighton at level 42. It pours darkest brown with a small beige head. The aroma is earthy, toasty, cocoa, wood ,dried fruits, raisin, dried fruits, spice and brown bread. The taste is slick, sticky, toasty, earthy, dried fruits, wood, spice, leather, brandy and toffee with a boozy finish. Medium - full body and fine carbonation. Pretty interesting stuff.

19th January 2017
Farewell Bespin Bottleshare. Thanks to Leighton for this much wanted beer. Hazy amber beer, decent cream colour head. Palate is light, dry and has decent fine carbonation. Dry caramel - toffee malts. Not at all sweet. Mild spice. Ripe fruits and a mild floral bitterness. Dry finish. Ripe fruity bitter linger. A robustly old fashioned beer with good bottle aging on top of the retro style. Yeah - like the vibe on this one.

Bottle shared in London - sourced from. Pours an attractive clear ruby with a frothy, off-white head. The nose has some aged berries, leaves, lightly toasted grains. Medium sweet flavour with some brown sugar, more ripe berries, toasted brown bread, crackers, fruitcake. Medium to full bodied with fine average carbonation. Sweet finish, sticky, lightly warming, with stewed berries, toffee, grape, more brown sugar. Good stuff. Has aged well.

Bottle shared at Leightons place, 19/01/2017. Many thanks to Leighton for this one. A clear deep amber brown coloured pour with a a lasting fine beige head. Aroma is rum and raisin, musty, sweet nutty malts, slightly musty. Flavour is composed of semi sweet burnt toffee, dried fruits, hints of liquorice, slightly woody. Pretty good for the age. Palate is medium sweet, moderate carbonation, slightly dusty.

Thanks Steve. Yes, this is an aged review for obvious reasons.
This was poured into a snifter.
The appearance was a total jet black color with a thin finger’s worth of white to off white foamy head that dissipated at a nice pace.
The aroma pops the roasty coffee beans to lay upon a ruggedly sweet milk chocolate. Sly dark chocolate, some vanilla bean. Sweet dark fruits. Subtle caramel.
The flavor yields to the sweet side with that rounded rugged roastiness making a good play against that sweet malty chocolatey/caramel taste. Semi-sticky sweet to rugged/roasty aftertaste and finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body with a fair sipping quality about it. Carbonation seems to have dissipated quite a bit with a rugged roasty grip on my tongue, somewhat dry.
Overall, very nice Russian Imperial Stout that I could have again, but sadly enough, well, most people know. I can only imagine what this was like when it was fresh.