On tap at Moose in Te Anau. Pours red brown. Caramel, hazelnut, plum, synthetic cherry, biscuit. Body could be thicker and less carbonated. Not the worst offering from Speights by any means.

Bottle. Dark brown with a pale beige head. Very little aroma - a bit of Milo and slight roast, I suppose. Sweet with brown sugar, bread, a little roast, plums, a little lick of spicy bitterness. It's very sweet but not quite as bland as it first appears. Let down by lack of aroma. A throwback.

Bottle at a hotel in Te Anau. An opaque chestnut pour with a beige head and good lacing; toasty aroma; rather thin in the mouth, with a caramel taste and over roasted grains adding a sharp bitterness; then a thin sweet finish. An insipid attempt at a porter.

Bottle from somewhere in NZ - thanks to Jan for bringing it! Pours clear amber with a thinning, frothy, white head. Restrained aroma of bread, cake, apple, caramel, cinnamon & grass. Taste is medium bready sweet, some caramel & raisin, and light grassy bitter, a bit herbal. Dryish, grassy hoppy finish, quite bitter, lingering fruit, caramel & yeast. Light, almost medium body, slick texture, fizzy carbonation. Not very impressive but its quenching & Amber Lager-like quality make it likeable.