Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon First Edition

Shared back to back with second edition thanks to egadjzis for sharing both! Obviously pours a syrupy very dark oily black with a thin orangey head. Aroma is both vanilla and chocolate with so much roasted barley and chocolate malts, and a slight vegetal acetone and acetaldehyde green apple in the harsh alcohol which is still apparent Coffee character is actually a bit more apparent than in edition 2.. More chocolate and roast in the flavor with licorice, tar, green bitter hops, more solvent and fusel and just straight up alcohol that has only faded somewhat since it was first released.

Bottle from Sloth, thanks! Dark brown, near black pour with a small brown head. Sweet aroma with light vanilla, chocolate, and a healthy roastiness. Tastes rich and smooth. Sweet, malty, dark fruit, and roasty. Chocolate and light bitters. Outstanding balance. Excellent.

Bottle #01312 Pours out Jet black topped with a tan head. A great aroma of sweetness all over the place Almond Joy. With the vanilla and roast. Tast very nice, brown sugar lots of rich roast and some black licorice. Very nice. A big thanks to Jake

22oz bottle from TheEpeeist, thanks Chris. Super dark with no head. Lots of dark fruit, vanilla, pretty sweet. Wow, that’s good, vanilla, wood and som enice alcohol warmth. This is F’n nice.

Bottle. Licorice start on the aroma, claret, light oak, vanilla, coffee. Deep black with golden edges, low disappearing brown head. Surprisingly fruity entry on the tongue - tropical fruits, citrus and berries. Port wine, dark cuban rum - gives this a cocktail-like impression. Then coffee and licorice enters, light cigar-tobacco and vanilla finds its way into the nose. Mouthfeel starts oily and slick, but has sufficient dryness to balance it off and it never gets cloying. Actually a quite delicate composition which is really nice in a style where you often find rather brash brews. Well done!

As black as can be , no head. Vinous and roasted aroma with strong anisy licorice, raisins, wooden barrel alcoholic tone also comes up. Near full bodied, soft palated. Flavor is softer with licorice still dominating, sweet sugar comes up with stickness, same barley wineish raisins also here. Aftertaste lasts with fine licorice and same BW tone. Well, lots of everything, though I’m not sure about balance anymore.

Giant thanks to Tronraner for hooking me up with a taste of this gem. Pours absolutely black with no real head. The aroma is quite strong, revealing quickly the sheer strength of this behemoth. Sticky, rummy sweetness, coffee, molasses, a vinous character, vanilla biscotti, raisins, brown sugar. The mouthfeel is thick and coating. I get quite a vast complexity in this one. Lots of hot, bold stout qualities leaning in the sweeter direction like molasses, rum, chocolate, then a really intersting red wine quality. The finish is what does it for me the most: lots of coffee, well, considering any real coffee flavor can come out that’s a feat in itself. What a chewy, lingering finish. Wow, what a beast. This is one that pushes the boundaries for what we would normally consider beer. Very good.

My 100th imperial stout!! Thanks much to secret santa for this one. Bottle #2146. It pours extremely black with small tan head. The aroma is dark fruits, vanilla, chocolate, a surprising amount of vinous character (pinot noir?), noticeable smooth coffee, and some alcohol and soy sauce. The flavor is full of rich espresso. There is a great deal of red wine flavor, including a subtle oakiness. Chocolate and toffee bulk it up, too. There is just so much going on, but it all melds together really gracefully. The finish is sweet with molasses, raisin, and dark fruits. There’s some alcohol burn, but not ridiculously much. The aftertaste is coffee with an increasing brown sugar sweetness. This is a fine beer indeed.