RAYBOY01 (1883), Chicago, Illinois, USA
| 4.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 17/20 | Feb 14, 2006 Can any other word be used except, "intense!" Burnt, charred,scorched, immolated malted grains. Chocolate and molasses/dried fruits like dates and raisins and figs...all of which are first macerated (Let me save you the trouble of looking that one up, Joe..."to liquify by steeping") and then flame-scorched to bring out their earthiness. This is one weird and intimidating impy. Bourbon and oak and smoke all pop-up when you least expect them, to dance a moment on your tongue and then fade away to be replaced with burnt brown sugar and charcoal briquettes. Huge and not very coy alcohol slap in each swallow...but I’m not complaining. Very rich creamy...no, vinous texture, almost like an exotic aperitif. Huge hop bite in the long lingering finish, just so the alcohol doesn’t get lonely, I guess.
Firemoose15 (545), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
| 4.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 17/20 | Feb 1, 2010 My second bottle, another cellar dweller that I would’ve sworn I rated. Aroma is a funny sour fruit and bourbony vanilla. Pours a deep dark black not much of a head but it was dark. Flavor is a deer dark roast, spicey tobacco, vanilla and bourbon. Palate is filling with a nice residual dark roast coffee trailer. Overall, I’m sure I would have rated this higher when I first received it in trade many years ago. Nonetheless, it’s another superb brew by Bells. DalzAle (572), Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA
| 4.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 | Jan 31, 2010 Bottle sample and a nice surprise at Skyviews last night! Dark brown pour and little (almost no) carbonation. Aroma was rich plums and bourbon the flavor was just as nice; strong tobacco, bourbon, wood and finished with some nice strong alcohol warmth. Excellent brew! DaSilky1 (2064), San Diego, California, USA
| 4.3 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 5/5 | 9/10 | 4/5 | 17/20 | Jan 28, 2010 Paper bagged 12oz: dizzity dark brown when held up to da light. just an island of bubbles congregating like a gang of crips in the middle of a south compton side street. Nose smelled like a raisin in the sun drenched in ebony sweetness. Hanging with the nose homies, were MC dark fruits, roasted break dancers, a little second hand blunt smoke and ash. Certainly a sweet and malty nose on this ho, fo sho. Big roast and big bitterness pull a glock nine on yo ass, pulling the trigger, splattering your taste buds out the back of yo head. Leafy blunt leaf, chocolate love, big booty bitterness...I aint poorin’ this out for my homie, fuck dat. ajm (1025), Los Angeles, California, USA
| 4.6 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 4/5 | 9/10 | 5/5 | 19/20 | Jan 14, 2010 Bottle from moejuck - thanks a country ton, Joe! This is crushing. Really super-fashioned Expedition. Nose is cinnamon, cream, chocolate, light spicy coffee, and very faint booze - even after a couple three years. Color is the flat black (with creamy retreating head) that you expect from a world-class Stout. Flavor is a polished version of the nose: creamy, chocolately, roasty, balanced like it was a product of alchemy. The spices meld with the sweetness and dark chocolate to make a mellow dessert beer of intercontinental proportions. A hell of a 990 and a strong candidate for #1000. bhensonb (4508), Woodland, California, USA
| 3.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 6/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 17/20 | Dec 24, 2009 Bottle from Styles - part of a great trade. Pours dark black with a slight tan head. Aromas of dark malts and dark fruits. More than full bodied. Mild carbonation. Flavor is dark malt, treacle and medicinal herbs. Coffee shows up in the finish. Chocolate eventually. Startling. Excellent. bvc (443), Kenmore, Washington, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 14/20 | Nov 25, 2009 12oz from riversideak...thanks man! Medium thick body with light tan head. Huge sweet roasty, prune, cherry, vanilla, dark cocoa, molasses, coffee. Creamy tart cherry burnt flavor. Boozy, thick and crazy strong. I am ’chewing’ my way throught this...happy to have tried it and it has great complexity as well as being well made but I’m glad to be drinking only 4oz. Thanks Alex. riversideAK (2912), Shoreline, Washington, USA
| 3.7 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 15/20 | Nov 25, 2009 Dark fruit, dark chocolate, brown sugar, caramel, soy, some alcohol warmth. Strong sweet robust aroma. Black w brown creamy head. Sweet chocolatey, soy, dark bitter roast, earth, dark over ripe fruit, booze. Full syrupy body, boozey hot finish. Soft carbonation. Wow intense. Too much for me. 17thfloor (1613), Chicago, Illinois, USA
| 3.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 | Nov 23, 2009 Bottle thanks to...? don’t remember, but thank you! Okay, I must be in the minority here to think that this did not age wonderfully. Aroma is big dark chocolate, oily, with obvious smokey leather oxidation notes. Flavor is dark bitter chocolate with a soy notes and just a hint of coffee. Very oily feeling.
|