Three Floyds Oak Aged Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

31st May 2008. Big thanks to Kim Fett for hand bottling this and sending to the UK. Silky thick palate. Milk chocolate and subtle smooth roasted coffee. Subtle cherry and red fruit. All this and vanilla oak tones too! Lacks a bit of carbonation - probably due to the hand bottlling but nontheless a superb beer.

A gift from the brewer to Greg (through Kiva), who gave him a case for free with the stipulation that he give it away at his bar. Best beer of the night. Dark ruby brown with no head. Aroma of roasted chestnuts and cherry liquer. Flavor of chocolate covered brandied cherries. Amazing.

Bottle courtesy of "hannont". Colour... well...black, with no head. Nose... unsulphered molasses, brown sugar, burnt sugar, dates and booze. Palate... holy jumpin’ up and down Martha! Damn this is nice! Now I know what all the fuss is about!! Extremely viscous, disturbingly sweet, lots of dark coffee, soy, charcoal, molasses, Medjool dates, sultanas, dark raisins, treacle, Madagascar vanilla, and of course delightful waves of my favourite Bourbon (Woodford Reserve)!

Nip handbottle, courtesy StFun. Pours completely pitch black, thick and viscous looking with a tiny patch of dark brown bubbles at the head. There is no lace, though the sheeting practically stains the glass brown. The aroma is absolutely incredible. Vanilla bean creme brûlée immediately comes to mind, as do notes of softened whiskey and oak, all atop an already decadent blend of burnt caramel, chocolate cake, and mocha cafe. Hints of licorice and anise lend ample spice, completing the near-perfect nose. The flavor has the nearly impossible task of living up to the beautiful scents that eminate from the glass, and accordingly, it falls a bit short. Still delicious, and based in rich chocolate, caramel, and roasty coffee, the sharpness of the whiskey barrel and the anise tends to come across on the boozy side. Sweet, scorched marshmallow works nicely with the vanilla laden, toasted oak barrel notes. Very faintly carbonated (though that is no doubt the handbottle talking), the palate is dense and oily, ever so slightly thinned as compared to the base beer. Coffee, anise, and bourbony wood intensify on the sharp finish. Though the barrel influence changes the character of the brew considerably, it remains signature Dark Lord through and through. Great stuff.

Handbottle, courtesy of Gunhaver. Poured black with no head. The nose was really exquisite, very robust vanilla notes mingling with bourbon, wood, and dark fruits like fig or plum. Extremely thick full body with a creamy velvety mouth feel. The flavor is very complex, hard roasted malt backbone with loads of dark cocoa, vanilla, hot bourbon, dark fruit and oak goodness. Finishes sticky, sweet, and boozy. Definitely a world class brew.

Courtesy of Gunhaver. Pours an oily black that stains the glass with no head. Aroma is loaded with vanilla, so much so that I thought we were drinking the vanilla bean version. After smelling nothing but vanilla for a few minutes some oak, dark fruit, caramel, bourbon, and roast start to come through. Taste is the same as aroma. Full mouthfeel with very well hidden alcohol. I had this beer in less than perfect shape but damn was it tasty. An insainly good beer.

Rating #2600.
Big thanks to Gunhaver for sharing this. You ROCK! Pours viscous sludgy void like ooze with no head. The aroma is . . . WHAT?? Hold on a minute, that can’t be right. OK another draw, CRIPES!! I’m glad I’m sitting down because this would have buckled my knees. There are deep rich barrel extracted vanilla notes everywhere. What the hell? Beyond the crazy rich vanilla are chewy smelling notes of caramel covered oak, thick sweet malts, dark chocolate and some crusty roastiness as well as very little evidence of the huge ABV. I guess I have to taste this. If this was all I had for the night I’d just nurse the aroma for hours. Wow. The taste is rich chewy creamy malts, caramel, decadent vanilla ice cream sprinkled with vanilla and syrup covered oak to go along with light notes of booze. It ends with the sense of rich fudge brownie spread over aged oak. Just frikin’ amazing. I really can’t even tell there’s much alcohol in this. How’d they do that?

Hand bottle provided by gunhaver. A: Pours as dark as night, flat pitch black with only a bubble or two for a head. The beer is thick, dense, it literally coats the glass. S: Huge vanilla aromas, from the wood I guess. Nothing artifical about the vanilla though, it is like creamy buttery vanilla. The wood component is huge as well. Like fresh cut oak. Strong roasty notes are there along with hints of molasses and chocolate. T: Holy Hell! There is nothing like this beer. It is the king of barrel aged beers in my mind without a doubt. Fudge like chocolate up front along with a big blast of roast. The oak component is huge and so enjoyable. Vanilla manages to push through with hints of bourbon. A slight milky coco puffs flavor can be picked up as well. Simple flavors that seem to just meld together perfectly. Really is a perfect beer. M: Full bodied, lacks carbonation from the hand bottling, but it really don’t suffer. I like lower levels of carbonation on RIS’ anyway. D: Wonderful, would love to drink all night until I pass out. Reason enough to make a trip to Dark Lord Day.