Bottle in trade from oxymoron. Thanks! Pours a dark maroon color, and surprisingly not black, and almost no head. Smell is soy sauce, fudge and dark fruit. Taste is a bit sweet up front with strong syrupy flavors followed by an alcohol hit. Some bitterness from the hops, but it doesn’t balance this out. It doesn’t have any roasty flavors at all, and is more like a really sweet, boozy barley wine. Fine in small amounts, but not to style and not something to drink a lot of. Somewhat drinkable for 18.4%...

12-oz. Thanks, Riverside! Pours jet black. Headless, laceless. Huge nose of vodka and maple syrup. Tingly, sticky body. Overwhelmingly hot. Maple, char, campfire, and lots of vodka on the mid-palate. Sharp, boozy finish.

2006 12oz bottle courtesy of crosling – thanks Nick. Pours a deep mahogany with a one finger tan had that receded immediately. Nose is toffee, dark fruit, molasses and whiskey. Taste is heavy on the dark fruits upfront with burnt caramel, brown sugar, oaky vanilla and booze with a fairly clean finish. At 18% abv, this isn’t the extreme booze bomb I expected, but it’s definitely warming all the way down. Medium mouth feel that’s pretty flat, but there’s still some carbonation in there. Interesting brew to say the last. I liked it more than I thought I would.

Bottle shared by a local. Poured a deep garnet-brown color with a thin beige head that faded to nothing. Aroma of caramel, raisin, plum, grape, and alcohol. Smooth, sweet entry with some caramel, molasses, and spice with a hint of booze and some light fruitiness (plum, grape) and a hint of oxidization. Low carbonation, slick and full on the palate. Surprisingly enjoyable, but it almost seemed like more of a huge barley wine than imperial stout. Perhaps I will need to revisit.

Pours black with some sparse white bubbles. Smells of up front alcohol, lots of bitter malt, some chocolate, some roasted coffee. Tastes of chocolate, creamy sweet malt, brown sugar, coffee. Considering the punch this packs, this is a good beer.