I picked up a couple of these limited edition bomber size stouts (one to enjoy and the other to age so I may be reviewing this one again in about 6 months) from Plaza Liquor.
The head is a frothy espresso color and dissipates into a thin film that leaves some nice lacing.
Moving quickly to the nose, there is the expected roasted malt and coffee and also hints of anise, currants and a slight smokiness. As the label correctly states, this brew is "intensely aromatic."
Wow, the taste packs a big punch right off the bat. Espresso, mocha, and long, dark chocolate finish. It has an incredibly oily palate that seems to coat the mouth with deliciousness. Slight hop character comes through as well. This stout really does have it all, a very well balanced example of the style.
Although the alcohol is hidden well by the complexity, half way through this one and I can feel the effects of this 10.5% ABV stout. Definitely not a session beer.
This one comes highly recommend for me. I can only imagine what the aged version has in store.
That's really interesting. A guy at work is in love with Stone Imperial Russian stouts and so during an after work beer session he convinced us to try the 2008. And I got a lot of flavor complexities like you described but it all ended up as soy sauce. I'm now interested in giving the fresh one a try.
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