UPDATED: SEP 14, 2023 Your straight-up imperial stouts are getting hard to find. This 12 oz bottle was located at a nice liquor store in Colorado Springs at the start of this summer. Avery has been fine by me with other beers, my first chance at this one, the label says Annual Release Oct. 2016 Batch No 17. Here we are, seven years later, I have a snifter prepared to receive the pour, ink black with a moderate head of tawny foam that promptly settles to a nice skim. The nose is quite fine, grain, caramel, some chocolate and earth. But the taste blows the scent out of the water. Nice. Sweet dark chocolate, toffee, burnt whole grain toast, some black licorice, malt in abundance, plums and hard candy. A slight burn going down, must be the high ABV. And a touch of bitterness. This is a rather complex and complete imperial stout. One to appreciate while pondering the good things in life.

UPDATED: MAY 7, 2022 bottle @ home, cellared since 2015. Brown quickly dissapearing head and an opaque black liquid. Aroma of warming alocohol, vanilla, dark chocolate, raisins, plumes and licorice. Big and sweet mouthfeel. Taste of dark chocolate, alcolhol, licorice, roasted malts. Finish is heavily roasted and bitter with bitter chocolate and coffee notes. ingering vanilla and oak notes.

UPDATED: AUG 1, 2021 Bottle from HEB in Austin, TX. Aroma is big dark chocolate, rich coffee, boozy chocolate dessert mud thing. Taste is sweet and boozy dark chocolate bomb, surprised this isn’t bourbon aged...caramel, bittersweet cocoa, espresso. These 14%-era from Avery are always flavorful but way too sweet for my enjoyment. A beer worth trying but not as World Class as I had hoped.

UPDATED: OCT 3, 2020 (Bottle, vintage 2014, 17.1%) Black colour with brief, beige head. Malty, roasted, vinous nose with espresso, black rye bread, chocolate truffles, sweet liquorice, prunes and plum brandy. Malty, roasted taste with notes of strong black coffee, dark chocolate, black rye bread, tamarind, liquorice, syrup, prunes and a vinous, boozy finish with a generous, almost harsh, coffee bitterness. Almost full body, sweet. Too sweet and boozy to be balanced, but quite tasty and powerful. Very nice.

UPDATED: SEP 27, 2020 Viscous near black pour, medium tan head. Big, roasty, thick, chocolate, coffee, roast, vanilla. Bottle from October 2019, maybe could have aged a bit longer because the alcohol was a bit in your face (expected since the abv is so high). Good but not great.

UPDATED: DEC 18, 2019 Bottle from San Diego, bought in November 2017, consumed at home, 18th December 19. Wow not many rates on this forum recently. This is a superb stout. Pours thick and black as the ace. Aroma is roasted malts, liquorice, cocoa, coffee bean. Taste is intense, liquorice, roasted malts, booze, but not too much, it’s absolutely delicious and memorable

UPDATED: DEC 4, 2019 Intense aroma of licorice, salt, pepper & milk chocolate. Black with a low brown head. Burning taste with a medium bitterness & light sweetness. Medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation but unfortunately the massive alcohol too much in focus.

UPDATED: MAR 7, 2019 Thinkin this is a bit more hype than what it is. Solid brew, and fairly drinkable for the high ABV%. I wanted to try this first before sampling my DFH Worldwide Stout. Super-dark black, with not that much carbonation or head. Flavors of chocolate, toffee, coffee, anise, etc. Not rushing to try this again, but glad I did so that I compare to some other strong imperial stouts.

UPDATED: FEB 18, 2019 Drinking 2008 bottle bought from Avery. While the appearance isn’t that awesome everything else is. Pour dark with small head that dissipates quickly. Smells of malt and caramel. Big roast flavor with a little sweetness and stickiness. Nice mild bitter finish.

UPDATED: JAN 17, 2019 Bottle from Systembolaget Sweden sampled Jan 2019 best before 2025. Big and fluffy dark brown head that goes away semi fast. Dark chocolate malt aroma. Sweet chocolate malt taste with a firm bitterness and big caramell sweetness.