Samuel Smiths Imperial Stout

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: Imperial Stout
Tadcaster, England

This beer is not opaque. Put it up to a bright light and some mahogany hues appear. It is however very dark, along with its nice, brown head. Where do I begin with the one of the top five complex beers I have ever tasted? Prunes and assorted dark fruits with rum, vanilla, and coconut on the nose. A good hop sharpness hits tongue first, then a sweetness pulls through of fine bourbon. Then comes the roastiness and malts to add a more complexity. Very sweet and makes for a darn nice after dinner drink! I will end there.

Re-rating, I don’t think this beer holds up to memory, recent samples are not impressive: Pungent, somewhat husky, figgy and raisiny, and quite dry. Medium levels of roast. Astringent huskiness almost tongue puckering.

Pours black with a crimson hue and large rocky tan head. The aroma has lots of milk chocolate, toasted malt that borders on roasted, and vanilla cream. Quite a lactic aroma. Medium body with very light soft carbonation. The flavor starts with some toasted dark malt, creamy chocolate, along with some sour lactic leanings. The finish has more roasted malt and some spicy hops. This was quite a disappointment ~ an okay impy stout that is very overrated.

Dark brown in colour. Aroma of alcohol, dark cherries and chocolate. Flavour was medium roasty, some cream, medium body, very mild coffee, lots of plums. Finished with some slight alcohol with a medium bitterness.

bottle - Pours deep black with a sizeable tan head. It has a very nice aroma of roast malt, licorice, and coffee. The flavor backs up the intense roasted malt quite well with the coffee notes. A rich, thick mouthfeel goes down great on a cold night, or any other night. There are better imperial stouts, but this is a good example of the style.

Has a whisky soaked aroma about it. Very nice black with thick creamy head. Barely any carbonation on the palate. However, when you swallow this stuff it provides an interesting tingle down the hatch. Yes, imperial, but perhaps one of the mildest imps I’ve had. It’s relatively friendly and is palated well. uite easy to drink for a lager lover. Probably a good starter imp stout. Very surprizing. Overall, if this is really an imp stout, it is not insulting to my taste buds. I’ve tasted many regular stouts that were more offensive than this. One of the better imps stouts IMHO. Hides the alky content well.

Bottle: Poured a thick oil black with a huge caramel chocolate head. Aroma is a roasted malts, dark chocolate, and coffee. Taste is taffe mixed with chocolate. Finish has a coffee bean dryness.

This was actually the first Imperial Stout I ever sampled, years ago. I’m nostalgic for the days when picking up a bottle or two of this was a thrilling and exotic experience. I remember the association I had with the taste...like something a sailor from a Melville novel would be found downing pints of after dark, the flavors redolent of another place and period in history... This is a highly unique and acclaimed Imperial, regal, powerful and mysterious. Commands respect.