Clear dark cherry brown color with a small tight, firm head. Complex malt aroma. Sweet, alcoholic, and a bit syrupy in the delivery with raisins and caramel dominating the flavor. Some hop bitterness makes a brief appearance as this fades into the finish. This certainly has some potential to improve with some cellar time. A bit young and it shows some harshness which most certainly will fade with time.

Very pale, highly carbonated, lofty foam head. Aromas of lemon, apple, spice (corriander?) and malt. Maybe some bread, too. Very sweet and mild flavoring. Yeast, floral/fruit, with a mildly bitter finish. Pleasant surprise.

Murky orange-brown body, thin light cream head. Caramely, toasty aroma with dark fruits and unfermented sugars in addition to alcohol, bordering on the rather harsh Hershey’s syrup-like notes I first noted in their fresh Imperial Stout. The alcohol in the body is hot but there is a nice backbone here of sweet, fruity malt (hints of strawberry), brown sugar, toast, and light bitterness. Earthy finish. I believe this was looking like it was going to clock in at 10.6% ABV when in the fermenter, so it’s toned down a bit, but could definitely use more cellar time, which was likely intended anyway. Good already with promise to be better than good months down the road.

Pour is a dark, deep brown with a really big frothy chocolaty head. Aroma is strong of blueberry and chocolate. Flavor is burnt grain, coffee and a little less blueberry flavored than the aroma indicated. Mouthfeel is thick and smooth (maybe like chocolate milk). I’m not totally sold on the blueberry... it’s interesting and definitely adds something, but I’m not sure at what cost. Definitely worth trying, probably won’t work it’s way into the regular rotation.

Very dark brown, thick body with minimal tan/orange head that leaves some nice lacing. Aromas are heavy of dark malt, coffee and chocolate. The aroma flavors come through strongly in the tasting, but they are all pretty bitter. Coffee is more like espresso, chocolate is unsweetened chocolate, and malt flavors are slightly burnt, perhaps excentuated by the bitterness from the hops. Mouthfeel is silky but dry. Well balanced... maybe a little too bitter for some, but an excellent offering from Dark Horse.

Amber color with a slight raspberry lemonade-type tint to it. Aroma is not that great. Raspberries are there, but surrounded by a bit of a bitter/sour aroma that I’m not sure about. Given my hestitations with the scents, the flavor isn’t that bad. Not perfect, but the raspberries don’t kill it, there is no horrendous sour flavors, etc. The aftertaste is decidedly sour and probably a low note. The raspberry adds a complexity that the beer really needs... without it it would be totally unremarkable. With the berries it is tollerable, but still a little lackluster.

This opened with the faintest "pop’ and proceded to pour a flat, oily, dense black brew into my snifter. Roast malt aroma that carried some coffee notes. Much more in the flavor than the aroma had prepared me for, adding to the aforementioned coffee and licorice, with some vanilla cream, and some chocolate. Thick and coating, there’s a nice feel to this sipper.

2004 bottle from Crosling, thanks so much Nick, this kicked ass! Consumed on 12/4/05.
Pours a deeply opaque, black as night colored body with a seriously burnt tan-coal colored head that I manage to get about a cover out of before it quickly runs for the edges and then nothing.
You know, normally this would elicit about a 2 out of me for appearance, but is the appearance in a stout so important?? No, not really. Here it just signifies that it is nearly flat, and that is not a bad thing, I certainly don’t care for highly carbonated beers. If it was a pilsner or something similar, than appearance and carbonation are a little more indicative of quality, to some extent, but not here. Not to mention, I just know this would be a 4 or 5 for appearance when fresh.
Moving on. The aroma pleasures the nostrils with thick, rich vanilla beans, creamy milk chocolate, light hazelnut-chocolate spread and thick barley notes. Light, drying yeast is noted as well. What it is light on is the roast and hops, which is fine with me, and a welcomed departure from your more traditional stout. But the vanilla, chocolate, light bitter black chocolate and thick cocoa and dry yeast is well pronounced and soothing. The flavor continues with the chocolate, though it is less bitter and black and more like a sweet honeyish-chocolate mixed in with vanilla iced cream. Succulent and well-placed lightly dry barley grain notes on the sides of the palate, adding balance and a light touch of coffee as it warms, sort of a grainy mocha or coffee-bean touch. The texture is fluid, immensely velvety and soothing, very near flat, but not thin or watery, importantly. The liquid glides down the throat leaving a pleasant sensation of light bitterness, sweet vanilla and brown malts lingering on the back of the throat. No alcohol apparency whatsoever. Medium body and very drinkable.
At 8 abv, this is nowhere near overdone, overhopped, syrupy, overly bitter, that sort of thing and that factors much in my score. Highly flavorful without being overdone.

Huge frothy head over a hazy medium yellow body. Excellent lacing follows a long lasting head. Typical Belgian aroma with bread dough and lemony yeast predominating. Lightly sweet flavor and a light palate that finishes with just the right amount of dryness. A decent brew and worth trying.