Highland Imperial Black Mocha Stout

Brewed by Highland Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Asheville, North Carolina USA

black under a small brown head. rich aroma of chocolate and creamed coffee. flavors are similar with flowery hops. chewy and smooth. long chocolaty finish. impressive smooth palate with no sign of alcohol.

Bottle. Pours opaque, maybe even darker than opaque like a black hole, sucking the light out of things around it, with a small, fizzy, dark brown, mostly diminishing with spare lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (coffee, toasted grain, molasses), average hop (perfume), average yeast (leather) with notes of wood, alcohol, vanilla, and prune. Full bodied, creamy texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, moderate sweetness, acidity, and bitterness.

Appearance: Pours a thick-looking, black body with a frothed, tan-hued head. Smell: Aroma of rich, concentrated chocolate and coffee scents with lessened supporting notes of blackstrap molasses, roasted nuts, caramel ice cream topping, and dark fruits. Taste: Roasted malts with plenty of dark chocolate sauce, dark caramel, molasses, Madagascar vanilla beans, and coffee extract tossed with a fair amount of lip-smacking residual sweetness. Slight charred plumskin fruitiness. Handful of burnt nuts. Roasty, earthy bitterness hits midway through. Bite through some rather chewy toasted malts. Very tiny peak of alcohol warmth. Finishes exceedingly smooth and with a long, lingering roastiness. Mouthfeel: Full-bodied. Medium carbonation. Thick, oily mouthfeel. Drinkability: A top-notch Imperial Stout that’s somewhat underrated, if you ask me. How anyone can not find enjoyment in that is entirely beyond me. Fun to sip and savor or chug greedily, it’s up to you.

22oz. Pour is inky black with a milk chocolate colored head. Aromas of roasted malts, chocolate pudding, and slight alcohol. Flavor is soy sauce, chocolate, roasted malts, and slight coffee. The soy sauce dominated this one. Drinkable but not too enjoyable.

T3. Dark brown with tan head. Smooth and sweet. Funky aftertaste. Some chocolate and coffee.

Served from a bottle at toncatchers T3 tasting! Thanks to stefanje, lagunitasfan, weeheavysd, fordest, wetherel, alohac and of course toncatcher for suppling the house and grub. A very nice stout. I wish it had more sweet chocolate. Pretty good though.

Bottle at toncatchers T3. Thanks to whoever brought it. A black pour with a small tan head. The aroma was a bit of a disappointment with a cooked vegetables. The taste, quite fortunately, was much better than the aroma; there is layered chocolates, coffee and biter dark chocolate. The mouthfeel is full and malty. Overall: A good biter dark brew.

2008 Bottle from oobawa. Pours a milk chocolate brown with a smaller tan head. Nose is strong with chocolate mocha and prune. The prune dark fruit nose stay for most of the drink. Flavors of smoky malt followed by rich roasted malt flavors with a good chocolate note. Latter hints of burnt coffee, and a nice prune dark dried fruit tone. Very nicely flavored considering they didn’t add any stimulus flavoring to the brew. Mouth is very full and chewy. A little warm. Great RIS here. Has an aged taste early.