Bottle (from saveur biere). Pours pitch black with dark brown head. The head stays. Aroma is sweet, fruits, black bread, dark chocolate, vanilla. Flavor is sweet and bitter, roast, dark chocolate, dark bread, malt, fruits, apples, citrus. Finish is dark bead and somewhat acidic. Overall: very good brew.

F: no real. C: very dark, non-transparent. A: roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, raisins, dates, figs, alcohol… T: very roasted malt, earthiness, coffee, dark chocolate, some woody tones, liquorice, dark caramel, vanilla, expresso, syrupy, full body, lower carbonation, worth to try.

Canadian RIS, now with different and seemingly much more informative label than shown on the picture here. Thick and dense, regularly shaped, deep mocha beige head resting on top of an ink black beer, revealing itself to be extremely dark mahogany brown in the end. Classic stout aroma of warm chocolate sauce with cognac, black coffee, black chocolate bars, mocha, wet leather, dried prunes, bayleaf, beef stock, hints of cinnamon, vague vanilla, black pepper, cloves, roasted pine nuts and hazelnuts, as well as a faint phenolic hint of shoe polish, but I cannot be bothered by that in this particular style. Candied sweet onset, raisins, candied dates, brown sugar but not becoming overly cloying or syrupy, with a deep, dull sourish touch to it; soft carbo, very smooth and creamy, oily mouthfeel yet perhaps not as ’thick’ and viscous as many other examples of the style. Deep, rich malt texture, toffeeish at first, nutty, toasted, becoming increasingly ’dark’ in the end and finishing in roasted bitterness with a much more chocolatey than coffeeish character, retaining a slick candied sweetness. Finish is malty, very chocolatey and gently roasted, mouth filling, with spicy yeast notes (cloves), deeply peppery and fairly long lasting hop bitterness and a friendly glow of warming, ’jenever’-like alcohol. Perfectly well executed imperial stout, could have been thicker for me and perhaps a bit more complex as well - I’d say this is a good introduction ’impy’ to those not yet familiar with the style, as it has all the basic features in a fairly accessible and very enjoyable way. Nice.