Samuel Smiths Imperial Stout

I had never tried an Imperial stout and was looking forward to this one. As soon as I opened the bottle the rich roast malt aroma really hit strong. This increased with the pour. The beer was velvety black and looked wonderfully rich. This beer has been described as "liquid Christmas Pudding" and with the complexity of the flavours I can really understand why. The beer had rich fruity flavours and a bitter roast malt aftertaste

Nice dark brown with hints of red and a thick but quickly diminishing tan head. Soapy roasty malt, anise. Taste is lots of bitter burnt malt, nice hoppy finish. Chocolate notes, a great beer that is tame for modern imperial stout standards.

Bottle pours dark brown with a quickly dissipating tan head. Aroma of caramel malts, liquorice, and chocolate. Taste starts semi sweet with roasted malts, vanilla, toffee, some black pepper spice and slightly acidic. Slight bitter finish. Mouthfeel is somewhat thin and watery but with a clean finish.

Good nose on this, nice malt & coffee aromas. Palate pretty good, a little coffee, chocolate & malt going on then drying out on the finish. Not bad but a little one dimensional & lacking the oomph & complexity of better imperial stouts.

Aromas of coffee and white grape juice. pours pretty much black. flavors of coffee, white grape juice raisins and a background of alcohol. A little thin for my liking, with a bit of prune juice in the finish. not bad.

Pours a pretty dark brown with a really bubbly head. Tastes a lot like chocolate and a little like coffee.

Flavor of cardboard, raisins, sweet dark fruit, some coffee, and a little chocolate. Thin body and slightly acidic. Alcohol is well-hidden. Reminds me of some darker Belgian beers. Drinkable, but not particularly enjoyable.

Bottle into red wine glass. Pours dark brown to black, brown around the edges, with a one-finger tan head, fizzy. Nose is big on dark fruits, with a bit of roasty acidity, some cocoa underneath, licorice, and just a bit of a boozy alcohol heat. Taste is roasty up front, bit of acidity, coffee that hints at licorice towards the finish, with a cocoa note underneath that surfaces as the acidity recedes a bit. Dark fruit comes out on the swallow, and lingers a bit on the finish, alongside a lingering roasty/light coffee note. Mouthfeel is medium-full bodied, medium-light carbonation, fairly soft, a bit viscous. Good beer, nice to see an Imperial Stout exhibit such full flavor at only 7% abv, lower than many "standard" stouts.