UPDATED: JAN 2, 2023 Tap @ Coalhouse Pizza, Stamford, CT, USA. Black colour with a thick tan head. Aroma is roasted malt, cocoa, dried fruits, red wine. Taste is roasted malt, dark chocolate, sweet, prunes, red wine. Full body, soft carbonation.

UPDATED: JUL 28, 2021 Bottle - not quite pitch black, but with a thick, well-sustained tan head - rich roasted maltiness - bittersweet, with dark fruit (plum) chocolate, espresso, anise - wine grape character enters the mix late and brings a fairly substantial vinous character, leading to a port-like finish - a slightly sharp roastiness and acidity cut through at the last minute, lessening my enjoyment to a degree - still pretty nice stuff.

UPDATED: MAR 14, 2021 Deep dark brown coloured body with a thick, three to four centimetre tall rich brown head that fades very quickly and just leaves a sliver on top, still deep brown, but only barely reminiscent of the thick billow that covered the beer a few seconds ago. Aroma of super pungent grape notes with a lot of roasted malt, oatmeal, lactose and vanilla with a touch of soy sauce and meats noticeable with a big dose of bitterness and anise towards the end. Medium-bodied; Strong roasted malt notes dominate up front with a lot of grape notes that don't show any sweetness, but a lot of aromatic notes and a slight sweetness from lactose and pitted fruits with a dose of bitterness from the roasted malt, slight coffee notes and definite anise and alcohol. Aftertaste shows a lot of grape notes, but only in a mellow, aromatic and funky sort of way and much less in terms of actual flavours and variance in the beer - this tastes like roasted malt, vanilla and alcohol without too much complexity, but still a bit mellow, given the age. Overall, a nice enough Imperial Stout that shows some nice notes, including the body and the bitterness, but the grape notes seem only in the nose and literally right when you open the bottlecap, after that the grape scent dies down dramatically and tastes like just about nothing. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle, purchased from GlenRo Spirit Shoppe in Monroe, Connecticut on 10-March-2018 for US$3,99 sampled just about three years later, at my house here in Washington on 13-March-2021.

UPDATED: SEP 25, 2020 The aroma is wine, then raisins. Pours almost black with big creamy dark tan head. The taste is a mild bitterness. The body is medium, the texture creamy, with a slight dryness after, the carbonation fizzy and the finish long. Not a fan of wine and beer mixtures, the wine is tending to drown out any of the beer flavors and leaves a fizzy bitterness on the tongue.

UPDATED: SEP 16, 2020 Pours inky black with a coffee with cream colored compact head that doesn't hold well but leaves ample lacing; cigars and dark chocolate on the nose; rich, murky complexity to the palate with a pronounced, lingering finish.

UPDATED: APR 6, 2020 Very nice stout with chocolate and coffee flavors combined with dark fruits. The Syrah wine gives it a unique flavor. Very interesting and well done!!!

UPDATED: JAN 24, 2020 Good roasted aroma. Notes of berry and wine. Strong presence of coffee and cocoa. Nice dark color and heavy.

UPDATED: DEC 7, 2019 Pours to a small but bubbly head with thick ring of lacing. Aroma rather light for an impy; mostly roast and red/purple fruits. Flavor is lots of dark chocolate up front with some sour cherry and oak hitting in the finish. While not complex, it's a very distinct impy; never had anything quite like this before.

UPDATED: NOV 23, 2019 Delicious with notes of chocolate and coffee. Smooth mouth feel and very subtle for an imperial.

UPDATED: NOV 22, 2019 Dogfish Head usually does good by me. How about Siracusa Nera? I've head this 12 oz bottle for most of the year, no time like now to sample. I have a snifter to receive this one, I see a black liquid, darker than a congressman's heart. Very little head to this one, a thin ring of tan bubbles. Dig the smell, chocolate, woodiness and some floral (where did that come from, the barrel maybe?). A taste cuts through the nonsense. Dark chocolate, tobacco, grain and malt and just a bit of tartness, the barrels again? I can appreciate it all.