8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
12 ounce can into snifter, canned in 2017. Pours fairly murky/cloudy nearly opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger fairly dense and rocky khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crusts; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, plum, prune, fig, date, smoke, char, wood, grass, herbal, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/black/roast/bready malts and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crusts; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, plum, prune, fig, date, smoke, char, wood, grass, herbal, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light pine, herbal, woody, grassy, peppery hops; and roast/char bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark/brown bread/crusts, licorice, dark fruit, smoke, char, wood, grass, herbal, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with an awesome roast/hop bitter/sweet balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mild increasing warmth of 9.2% after the finish. Overall this is an excellent Russian imperial stout! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV, with the mildly bitter/charred/drying finish. Awesomely rich and well rounded malt complexity; with solid earthy hop presence/balance, and restrained yeast fruitiness. A very enjoyable offering, and impressive spot on style example. Likely very mellowed out on hops from age, not overly bitter/charred at all.
Tried
from Can
on 25 Aug 2012
at 20:14