Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon First Edition

Bottled. Pours out in a opaque black colour with a low dissapearing brown head. Deep, complex aroma of alcohol, soy, burnt malts, dark chocolate, dades and pepper. Full and warming flavour of portm anise, tobbaco, luxury dark chocolate and dense caramel. Long peppery and slightly vinous finish of port, dark chocolate, caramel and pepper. World-class.

Picked up single 500ml bottle (#02077) from Cellars Wine & Spirits in St Paul, MN. Pours an opaque black motor oil brew with a fast dissolving tan head that leaves behind a tan ring and a few bubbles. Aroma of dark bittersweet chocolate, candi sugar, coffee and some smokey alcohol. Taste is thick and chewy, very little carbonation, with a dark toasted malt flavor with characters of dark chocolate, coffee and multiple dark pitted fruits. Finish is a soft and creamy, heavy on the alcohol with a sweet chocolate aftertaste. Impressive!

Pours black with a disappearing brown head. Sweet malty aroma with hints of chocolate and alcolhol. Complex flavor with notes of chokolate, prunes and roasted malt. Nice alcohol in the finish.

500ml bottle in a fancy case. Pours a motor oil opaque black with a thin brown head that quickly diminishes to a thin collar.

The aroma is dark chocolate, some candy sugar, vinous fruits and sharp alcohol.

The flavor is bitter baker’s chocolate, grainy malts, black licorice, some sour vinous fruitiness, sweet candy sugar, and a big wallop of warming alcohol. The mouthfeel is pretty full and low on carbonation.

Overall, this is truly a big beer. It’s fun, but way too harsh on the alcohol. At $22 for a 500ml bottle, it’s good to try once.

500ml Bottle (#850): Strong sweet, lightly bitter aroma. Smells of coffee, dark dried fruits, dark chocolate, roasted malt, and rye. Poured dark black in color with a medium-sized, foamy, rocky, dark-brown head that lasted throughout. Opaque. Flavor is medium sweet. Tastes of chocolate, coffee, alcohol, smoke, and malts. Medium to full body. Thin, oily texture. Soft carbonation. Coffee, malty, alcohol finish. Overall, 16% ABV is well hidden.

bottle 02139. BIG # 500! This beer had sips that were 5.0 material. I have a few more bottles that will hopefully tame that 16 percent a little bit. Pour is between dark brown and black. Tagging along is a very small brim of a head colored light brown. Nose is very potent on the alcohol with dark malts, chocolate and coffee coming in as well. Once the consumption starts, the alcohol decides its time to kick it up a nothch. Its so overbearing that it really detracts from a delicous chocolatey caramey coffee toffee malty friggin deliciousness. This beer may be a 5.0 in a year or two or three or four, but as it sits not quite. I love this beer and it truly is so friggin good, but its not quite there. YET.

Bottle #05403. Many thanks to Yesper for this treat. A nose that reminds me of a big thick wine with a faint undercurrent reminiscent of roasted malts, though none of the chocolate or coffee I would have suspected. Opaque brown/black body with plenty of rich brown head that regrettably was gone within a minute. A strong port character on the flavor that delves quickly into alcohol induced warmth that hides the hight ABV well. Sweet, but far from cloying and a wonderfully thick texture. The flavor soon yielded a dry finish with just a faint hint of coffee. As the taste lingered on my tongue, roasted malts and coffee make themselves more apparent, along with a faint return to the sweetness noted earlier. The Columbian beens didn’t make much of an appearance other than a well blended coffee flavor that never dominated the beer. The warmer the beer gets, the more roasted character emerges in the flavor. The nose opens up as well, becoming more complex in its port wine like character with dark fruit aromas opening up.

(bottle) Pours black with a non-existent head, even with agitation. The aroma is incredibly complex and begins with scents of port and red wine, along with raisins. As the beer warms however, a nice roasted coffee smell complements the more wine-like smells, and the two blend together, soy sauce makes an appearance as well along with a faint boozy smell. The taste was very sweet initially, and was very fruity with a roasted finish. After the beer warmed however there was some soy sauce, and the ever present slight tingle of carbonation in alcohol that followed the sweetness, which was then rounded out with some coffee roastiness on the finish. The mouthfeel was thick, and my only knock on the beer would be that the finish is just a bit too short. As olso2116 said, this beer is very reminiscent of 04 Speedway, but a phenomenal beer nonetheless.