Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon First Edition

Bottle sampled. Pours ebony black with a very small tan head. Very rich aroma of chocolate, coffee, molasses, dark fruit, and a hint of raisins. Complex flavor of light roast, molasses, coffee, chocolate, rum raisins, alcohol, and a touch of toffee. Full bodied and well balanced . An excellent imp stout

500 ml bottle #02175 from Plaza Liquors. Shared with DoubleBubble - Pours a dark brown color with a 3/4 finger thick tan head. Very little lacing. Aroma is vinous, light chocolate, and toasted malt. Quite unique. Flavor is is toasted malt, molasses, dark esters, chocolate, and very light coffee. Has a slight lingering aftertaste. Slight alcohol warming. Medium to full body. Be nice to drop the ABV a couple percents. An excellent beer.

Pours a dark brown with a creamy tan 1/2’ head. Very little lacing. Estery smells, with a nice roasty aroma. Can smell the alcohol also. Sweet malty, esters, a hint of molasses. Slight alcohol warming, with a little bit of a dry roasty after taste. Shared with cbkschubert. Good beer, but a little strong for my liking.

Comes in its own cylinder container: bottle 02157 - Very dark brown pour to settle inky, impenetrable black. A huge cinnamon brown colored cupcake of a foam sits on top with immense density. Slowly and evenly settles down to a thickly compacted skim. Bits and spots of lace are thown about in a minimal display of intensity. Aroma is monsterously rich and tangy with darker then dark malts of thick molasses, chewy chocolate, dark fruityness thats mostly pruney and raisiny. Rummy heat adds lots of depth to its sweet, dark side. Taste has immeasurable amounts of lushly thick flavors. Enormously tangy at first, but as it sits chocolate takes a bit more richness, but doesn’t quite take the tang away. Very, very, dark and tangy with molassas, vanilla paste, chocolate cream pie, caramel, lots of buzzing warmth, and lipsticked with raisiny goodness and a bit of cream steamed espresso. Its not quite as complex as their regular Imperial Stout, but just as damn big if not bigger on the palate. The most difference I find is the spice and the heat. This has way more warmth, alot more, it penetrates immediately upon the first sip and lasts the whole bottle through. Making for a much longer session of sipping. The finish melds into a stuntingly high ended dryness of hops and a whirlwind of chocolate cream leftovers bittering off with a liquescensce of mild vanilla, butter cream, and pecan peppered espresso. Wowzaa! This is some thick stuff! Luxurious warmth forms quickly around a big, creamy, rich, lush, body of tanged flavors. Its boldness and creamy richness is beyond itself and is remarkably near the scope and depth of some kind of chocolate mercury. A damn nice Imperial stout! The bigness of body supersedes its flavors, but matches the painterly palate of creamy richness that is like drinking some kind of chocolatey tanged elixer oil. Watch out for that 16%, as its goin’ nowhere. It sits with ya from first sip to last.

Bottle at C-bus 10 shared by Sliffy, I think. Pours a murky black color with a dark yellow/brown head that give way to an oily surface. Aroma is licorice, molasses, alcohol, chocolate, coffee. Flavor is burnt sugar, caramel, raisin, coffee, chocolate, alcohol. Palate is massive, mild to non-existant carbonation, finishes bitter and extremely hot. Good stuff for sure, but just doesn’t blow me away.

300th Rating: Poured from bottle #01154 and served in a snifter. This beer poured an intensely opaque black with a thin head of dark tan foam that quickly faded away, leaving some small lingering bubbles. The aroma of the beer was made up of licorice, molasses, perfumey alcohol, milk chocolate, and also some french roast coffee. The flavor consisted of strong espresso notes, intensely sugary caramel, milk chocolate, raisins, and sweet, tongue tingling alcohol. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and slightly oily with mild, tingly carbonation. A very nicely crafted Imperial stout. The alcohol in the nose seemed to be a bit overwhelming and sweet, but it blended in fairly well with the other flavors. Very good indeed, but not great.

Bottle #01376
You have no idea how much it pained me to open this one. At $20 it’s not terribly expensive, but still the most I have paid for a single beer. Chugs out of the bottle with an inky, midnight black body. No light is getting through this puppy anywhere. Medium sized tan head. Mostly lasting with some decent lacing. Nose is very boozy, as expected. Reminded me specifically of isopropyl rubbing alcohol. Once you get past that, there is a nice blend of coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malts and some fruitiness. Loads of chocolate and coffee beans dominate the flavor profile, with a roasty backing from the malts and again a tartness from some fruity notes. Raisins and figs become more apparent as the beer warms up. This beer definitely needs to be consumed on the warm side. Even a slightly cooler than optimal temperature caused the beer to feel painfully thin bodied. Once it warmed, it did fill out quite a bit, very oily and viscous, but still lacking a bit of the chewiness and roundness I like from Imperial Stouts. Lengthy finish, with fusel alcohol, raisins, bakers chocolate and bittersweet chocolate. Good stuff, hopefully I will get a chance to try one with a few years on it, because I think this one has a lot of room to grow.

Dense black liquid with a thin head. Tastes of a dark chocolate bar with rummed cherries and a touch of coffee. Finishes with some sweet vanilla notes. The palate is thick and chewy with a nice softness to it.