Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter

2006 bottle, thanks a ton Max for sharing this. Rating #888. Black pour, a brown ring of film. Aroma is light alcohol, chalky chocolate. The flavor is not one of those overpowered impy stouts, as I expected it to be, but more subtle and balanced. There are significant amounts of rich caramel / honey, roasted chocolate, dark fruit, wood and vanilla / alcohol. The finish is soft and a nice blend of sweetness and the wood flavors.

2006 bottle from Max. Huge thanks. Way too small, this is the kind of beer you need to drink out of pint glasses and put back an ounce or two per sip at least. Unfortunately, few are afforded that luxury. Very smooth and subtle in all regards, light roasty coal, chalk, and a bit of alcohol. Flavor is deep, with pure imperial stout notes and a nice aged character... some oxidation and sherry. The honey really balances this out. There is a bit of booziness here, no doubt. A great drinker, I’d love to have more, and while this is a fantastic beer, I can’t say this is the best imperial stout. Still, very very good.

Finally got to try this, very hyped, beer and for an affordable price at 30USD for a, approx, 8.5oz bottle :-) Appearance: Dark dark dark red with a creamy beige head. Aroma: Oak, Vanilla, Honey, Portwine, Fruit Flavor: Bitter chocolate, Vanilla, Cream, Brown sugar, Cherries. Palate: Smooth as silk but liquid is very thick and creamy. Low carbonation. This is, hands down, one of the best beers i’ve ever had the pleasure to sample. Very filling tho and sharing a small bottle among 2 people were just perfect. If you can ever get hold of this little beauty, do not hesitate. Highly recommended!

2006 bottle shared by WeeheavySD, via trade with Magic_Dave. #1000 for Jon, #400 for me. Poured balck with a nice layer of light brown bubles. roasty notes in the big nose. Flavor had some great roast coffee and chocolate flavor I’ve got vanilla as well as just a little bit of alcohol,. as the beer warmed in the ridel snifter, i got extra carmel and toffee notes and the presecence of honey. A great complex brew. It didn’t blow me away like the first time i had speedway, but a damn good beer.

2006 vintage courtesy of the unbelievable generosity of Ughsmash. Many thanks for knocking out the last of the beers I most sought out.

Ah, Kaggen - how you have eluded me all this time. So many perfect scores have been bestowed on you. So many arguments have been fought over whether you are the best beer in the world. Finally my time has come to evaluate all the hype and praise.

In a nutshell, if falls far short of expectations. The aroma was very nice. The excellence of barrel-aging was very evident in both the aroma and flavour. This alone allows me to appreciate the high degree of skill that was involved in this process. However, there was a stark lack of balance here with each flavour component seeming a bit disjointed from the others. The body was also a tremendous letdown for me as I was expecting something quite....well, "imperial" in nature. I got very ordinary and run-of-the-mill. Nothing huge in regards to the viscosity. Which is fine if there’s a multitude of complexity and refinement in the flavour as was evident in the original batch of black hole from Mikkeller, for example. However, while there were some interesting vinous notes along with some nice use of specialty grains, it was all rather uninspiring.