Beeronaut (59), Cambridgeshire, England
| 4.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 18/20 |
Sep 28, 2009
Pours very very dark brown, pretty much black by most peoples standards. No head to speak of, great aroma of coffee, dark chocolate, plum and raisins waft immediately from the bottle. Aroma from the glass: more coffee and very dark choc, some burnt sugar. On the palate lots of dark fruits, and stone fruit, dates, figs, plums, some muscovado sugar, molasses, almost a root beer quality to it. Lots of coffee, earth and chocolate, also some kind of spirit, rum or something of that ilk. The feel of the beer is excellent, soft, velvety with no carbonation, it’s just like taking gulps of an oil slick... this is literally palate coating brew of the highest order. Great complexity but seriously intense. Not as good as the Tsarina Esra but still a cracking piece of brewing. Finish is nicely bitter with a bit of a tang, but not nearly as cloying as you would first expect. Good work.
 Silphium (2160), Haslett, Michigan, USA
| 4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 |
Dec 31, 2009 750 mL bottle #63, September 2008 bottling, shared by badnewsbeers. Deep opaque brown-black body, thick, puffy tan head that becomes dense and persistent. Complex nose with sweet bread dough, rich chocolate, tobacco, hints of licorice, and subtle charred notes. Yum. Complex, rich body with sweet chocolate and licorice notes that lead to toast, sweet bread dough, and tobacco. Vinous. The finish yields a nice bitter, ashy smokiness. My only criticism is that the sweetness gets a tad cloying after a few ounces. Still, this is an excellent beer.
Teege (129), Orlando, Florida, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 16/20 |
Dec 29, 2009 750 ml bottle thanks to Solan. Pours opaque black. Very rich and creamy. Lots of booze, alcohol, dark chocolate and coffee in the nose. The flavor is sharp but delicious. This is a great stout.
GodOfThunder (885), Orlando, Florida, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 |
Dec 29, 2009 Thanks be to Solan. Hot alcohol nose. Nice flavor with a charred finish. Very rich. Nice stout.
dEnk (38), Den Haag, Netherlands
| 4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 |
Dec 29, 2009 Updated: Dec 30, 2009Deep coffee black/ liquorice colour, no head at all.
Deep, sweet caramel, coffee smell with cherries and branded cranberry.
Strong coffee/espresso taste, hint of cherries, lightly salted liquorice.
No carbonation at all, would have liked some.
Very long after taste, changing from coffee to liquorice to herbs, very deep.
Would have been higher with some form of carbonation.
eaglefan538 (2405), Wilmington, Delaware, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 3/5 | 8/10 | 2/5 | 18/20 |
Dec 28, 2009 Bottle 006 from SL, woo hoo! Bottle somewhere in Sept of 08 I think the bottle said. The pour was dark brown-black, somewhat thin looking for the style, as was the mouthfeel: a bit flat and thinner? The aroma was great, though, cocoa-milk chocolate, some chalkiness. The flavor was cocoa, milk chocolate, chalk, finishing with a nice spicey hops bite, some faint grass, roast. Really came together well. Mouthfeel again was a bit flat. I recall the price being a bit steap on this, but it was quite nice. Very nice!
JanEric (218), Meppel, Netherlands
| 3.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 3/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 |
Dec 28, 2009 Almost black coloured, no head, almost no carbonation. Aroma has lots of espresso, cacao, caramel, roasted malts. Taste is very bitter, with dark chocolate, coffee and caramel. Also not only bitter but also a bit sweet. It’s like a ruby port combined with dark rum. Very syrupy. Alcohol very well hidden. A complex beer, not my favourite sort of beer but this is very good drinkable.
notalush (2693), Denver, Colorado, USA
| 3.6 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 14/20 |
Dec 25, 2009 Only at Christmastime can I justify spending this much on a bottle of beer - first of all, who the hell puts wax on the top of a corked and caged bottle? - my hands will be stained red for days! - and all of the work to get the cork out doesn’t produce any satisfying "pop" at all - great, flat beer - yup, pours perfectly still, viscous, dark brown - the aroma is pretty nice, though - a lot of date, plum, fig, espresso, dark chocolate, vinous character, light bitterness - slick in the mouth, lightly oily, kind of thin-bodied for the strength - fairly bitter flavor, black malt, dark roast coffee - somewhat oxidized - some tobacco - dates, raisins, black cherry - late chocolate sweetness, a touch of vanilla - a bit boozy at the end - strong, coffee-ish bitterness lingers for a while - tastes like a flat, oxidized version of what could be an awesome imperial stout - still, even with that, it’s still pretty dang good.
pkeigan (1), Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
does not count  | 3.7 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 3/5 | 8/10 | 2/5 | 17/20 |
Dec 25, 2009 Bought this at Oblitukken in Copenhagen earlier this fall and was really looking to forward to drinking it for Christmas. Popped with a low hiss, but beer like it has little to no carbonation. I see the gem hidden in this one though, great aroma, nice smooth mouth feel and great lasting finish. Going to have to try to seek this one out again.
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