2008 version, bottle from Yamaoka. Almost black, with a tall fine tan head. Light to medium smoked aroma, very malty, slight caramel, a bit sweet. A little bit fruity. Lightly smoked flavor, sweetish, rich malt, excellent balance. Caramel, chocolate, a touch of dark fruit. Hard to tell its strength. Less smoke than the regular. Very well balanced. Excellent!

Bottle, thanks to Bill, leftover from the World Beer Cup. Shared with my girlfriend Cyn, super cool label, and a smoked, and she likes smoked. Pours dark brown/tan with a tan foamy head. Nose is incredibly smoky with hints of cedar, and beef jerky. Very smoky up front but not obliterating, in my opinion a good balance of smoke and other flavors I’ll agree with Tim about some back end fruit flavors. Extremely smooth and very very tasty.

Very odd beer that might be a mix of a couple of their beers. Extremely dark brown color. Very slightly sour nose, but almost no smell. Where is the smoke??? I was very confused at the start. Then the sip.... BAM a huge smoke whallop hits you. Smooth. Beyond the smoke there are bananas, cloves, liquorice and chocolate. Excellent. Finishes like a Wiezenbock. Even after the beer warmed up the nose was totally muted. Still overall very enjoyable.