Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Munster, Indiana USA

2005 addition graciously provided by KP. Thanks again, KP! Dark black color. Licorice, chocolate, and vanilla aromas. Astringent, boozy, roasted, smoky, and sweet flavors. It was really nice to finally try this, but I need to revisit sometime with a fresh bottle.

2007 bottle from acertain. Thank you so much for your generousity!
2008 fresh bottle as well. This is a combination of the two ratings, numberwise, and description wise it’s the ’07
Poured dark black into a snifter with ruby edges when held to the light, and with no head. Mustered a slight dark tan film as it swirled in the glass, but no more than that.

Smell is of char, roasty malt, figs, definite soy note but not in an unpleasant way, and big notes of tart cherry, sweet creamy chocolate and especially lots of molasses. Some alcohol showed, but didn’t hinder it, really.

Taste is dark and very rich. Fudge like chewy chocolate, with light hints of soy sauce and the same highly sweet molasses flavor and tart cherries again. Didn’t get any notes of coffee whatsoever.
Very low carbonation and a rich mouth coating body. Would actually prefer a touch more carbonation in this. Overall, rich, and smooth and definitely a very creamy, robust flavor, but in the end it was cloyingly sweet, I found. Definitely not one of my favorite Imperial Stouts, but not one I’d ever turn down trying either.
Fresh 08 bottle is more slightly more hoppy, bitter, and carbonated but still incredibly rich and flavorful with lots of dark sticky malt. Definitely my favorite I’ve tried, and the 4.4 is indicated by this vintage fresh.
Fresh 09 bottle came across with lots of licorice and was very sweet and sugary. Perhaps slightly thinner than I remember, but definitely sweet than the fresh 08 bottles were, which lowers my overal score for the beer...

2007 Silver waxed edition. Much love to Phatz for hooking me up with this bottle from DLD. Much like Chuck Norris, this beer is not afraid of the dark, the dark is afraid of it. Essence of blackness. Thin, foamy, brown head that doesnt stand much of a chance againt this black hole of a beer. Some serious legs on this beer. Rich, assertive aroma with lots of earthy sweetness. An almost bourbon like characteristic of vanilla and oak. Dark fruit, sherry like dryness with alcohol spice. At first, there is also a strong shot of roasted coffee, although its not as assertive as I thought it would be. The flavor starts off with warm and gooey chocolate sweetness and then explodes into boozy vanilla, figs, and brewed coffee. Finish is dry, with husky notes of freshly roasted coffee beans and a hint of hop bitterness. The body starts off fairly smooth, but seems to get chewier and bigger as time goes on. By the end, its almost like drinking a thick mug of hot chocolate. The alcohol is not shy at all, providing a warming glow throughout. *SLAP*, the Dark Lord commands your attention. Not a beer to be taken lightly, as the big flavor and big booziness are nothing to trifle with. Nice, big and bold RIS flavors with sweet, roasty, and bitterness throughout. Is it worth the hype? That’s up to you...

Approximately 6 oz. sample from 750mL bottle consumed at tennisjoel’s tasting on 1-26-08. 2007 vintage. This was the seventh of ten beers that we tried. Thanks to Joel for generously sharing this great beer and to ElGaucho for generously offering this beer to Joel. Complex, fruity aroma features plum, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, rum, port, and raisin scents. Pours a syrupy, very dark brown with some bubbling and some chunks of particulate. Looks like rich, dark chocolate. Slowly developing sable head. The flavors are so complex as to be difficult to describe. They include coffee, port, sautéed chocolate, lemon, cream, plum, and banana. There is some hops bitterness, but most of the bitterness seems to derive from the roasted malts. Delicious! Full body; this has to be the thickest beer I’ve ever sipped. Oily but lively on the sides of the tongue. Silky smooth, creamy, and syrupy in the palate. The texture is awesome and may be the best I’ve ever experienced in a beer. If I could give it a 6 for palate, I would. Dark Lord lives up to the hype! If Three Floyds toned down the coffee and turned up the hops, I bet this would be the best beer I’ve ever had. As it is, it comes in a notch below Surly Darkness among the best imperial stouts I have yet to try but head and shoulders above everything else. It was easily, and not surprisingly, the best of the night. I should point out that the casual beer drinkers who came to the tasting did not particularly like this beer, but who cares? I loved it! This is the beer that caused me to change my favorite style designation from IPA to Imperial Stout.

Bottle shared by Marcus - many thanks. Really dark aroma. It’s sort of treacly. Opaque brown/black color, and the head left quickly. Fullest body. Mild creamy carbonation. Flavor is very dark malt. It is very malty, but it is not roasted or toasted. Just really dark and rather sweet. The finish is much the same, but perhaps a little wood came forth. It’s really smooth (could be the molasses), and the flavors are not simple, but don’t match any single flavor (other than molasses) I’m familiar with. To drink it is to know it. I’m not likely to forget it.

Dark to black thick beer, with a very small head. Big nose of chocolate and sweet malts. Sweet chocolate taste, roasted malts and notes of coffee. Smooth mouthfeel. Definately the best RIS up to now.

Bottle, grey wax seal from 2007. Opened 20 Dec 2007 as an early birfday present to myself. Aroma is pretty colossal, thick rich chocolate with alcohol and a bit of salt, roast coffee beans and a syrupy malt. Lesser notes of vanilla and molasses, and I’d swear I smelled bourbon if I didn’t know better. Noisy pour, soul-devouring blackness with a dark brown head that quickly fizzed into nothingness. Enormously rich and full taste, strong with roast but even that is overcome by the hearty, dry fruit (though there’s a slight, and unfortunate, metallic tendency before the palate numbs). A really delicious berry flavor is dominant, with lighter vanilla and adjunct cream. Plums and a thicker strain of port, with heavy, viscous molasses. Chocolate cake with raisins and faint cherry topping. Light flittering sweetness and sourness, but these two register more as afterthoughts. Alcohol is much better integrated than was expected, mostly noticed in the heft and with little trace in the taste; even the residual warming is slight and almost snuck up on me. Obese body, slightly syrupy but not to its detriment. Startlingly, there’s a touch of hops to be detected, lightly prickling in the finish and dry aftertaste, ultimately put to better effect than in Black Sun, which I adore. Sticky lips for minutes of licking. There seems to be wisdom in a “best ingredients possible” philosophy; it’s evident that high-quality beans were used, the kind I’d like to buy by the pound and use every morning. More importantly, as a front-running imperial stout, DL avoids the trap and does not seem to be sunk in any trudging mire or slogging bog or plodding fen; rather, it’s bright and glittering, spirited and vibrant and exciting. There’s also a high degree of consumer satisfaction here; it’s as clearly opulent and well-heeled as we hope to find in gourmet food, to say nothing of highly-rated gourmet food. I’ve entered into this affair rather cautiously, but in the end, I feel I’ve not been sufficiently effusive in my praise. Superlative.

P.S. Leaves an undesirably thick yeasty residue on the glass. I know some of us look for da Sludge, but … echh!

[931-20071206] 650mL (Vintage 2007, silver wax; c/o boboski). Beautiful mildly sweet aroma has roasty malt tones and hints of smooth chocolate and coffee. Black abyss body hints at red around the edges with not much head. Flavour is a nicely balanced roast malt with chocolate and coffee and mild fig raisin, all blended together and slightly smoked. Smooth clean full body easily hides the higher alcohol notes. A lovely lovely imperial stout, thank you for sharing -- plus what an incredible way to start off on a roadtrip to Tampa! (10/3/9/5/19) 4.6

[1357B-20080517] Bottle. Dark and roasty syrup aroma has some "porty fruit" notes. Dark dark brown body with light tan bubbles and the sludge really coats the glass to a yellow tinge. Roasty malt flavour has thick sweet dark chocolate and lots of mocha with a long, long aftertaste. Full thick body is sweet. Wow -- very port-like and thick and tasty. (8/4/9/4/17) 4.2
(Vintage 2004; c/o frylock, w/ others)