Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

22 oz. brown bomber bottle. 2007 batch, silver wax. Took awhile to open this jewel. Poured out a dark espresso bean brown, with a sticky dark mocha colored head. Aromas are of licorice, sweet dark fruits (prunes, raisins, etc.) with dark Scharffen Berger chocolate notes as well. Since today is Christmas Day, this beer is my present to myself. Flavors are of dark chocolate, macerated cherries, Bourbon barrels, vanilla beans, maple syrup, burnt sugars, toffee, espresso. You name it, it’s in there. The flavors are all over the place. Chewy mouth feel, rich & thick, like chocolate covered raisin bars. Immense roasted flavors compete with the chocolate notes. Some berry notes, like Starbucks Arabian Mocha Sanani coffee. Port wine notes in the flavors also. Damn tasty beer. I’m glad I traded a Thomas Hardy Ale (1980 vintage) for this rascal of a beer. Best RIS I’ve had in a long, long time. 2 thumbs up to Three Floyds for making this monster of a beer. Merry Christmas!

Pours like 10W30 with a dark chocolate head. Not lace so much as the beer actually sticks to the sides of the glass. This is a thing of beauty. Smells of big chocolate, very roasty, some maple and minor alcohol. Taste is incredible. Very roasty, sweet chocolate, maple and vanilla and a slight alcohol finish. Velvety in the mouth with ABV almost non existant. A pure delight to sip away. Sex in a bottle.

Vintage 2007, thanks to Stevo. Sludgy black pour of used motor oil rimmed with a bit of metallic tan skin, leaving a grainy film coating the sides of the glass as it goes down. Rich, smoky aroma of applewood bacon and lots of wet vegetal hops. Spicy African coffee beans of the most massive variety and hints of whiskey heat fill in underneath while fresh green apple and kiwi lend a bit of surprisingly pleasant tang over the top. Softer flavors of whiskey soaked figs and peaches lend a bit of well-intentioned subtlety and grace to the brutal juggernaut of wet german chocolate cake, wildly earthy roast, and foamy latte; the bits of quiet fruit sugars soften the aggressive edge, but the general tone remains quite jagged and imposing. Cooling sensations of vanilla and mint chase the back end of that dessert type of sweetness before the salty, dark burst of soy sauce licks the palate with delayed but firm force. Beneath these brutish impressions there’s a lot of depth to the flavor that struggles to find expression, though it digs deep enough, given a little time, into blueberries, black licorice, grainy honey, and barbecue wood; the reservoir is virtually bottomless and the presentation carefully balanced. In the mouth, the velvet syrup of a heavy fudge milkshake makes this something between solid and liquid form. Bold and viscous, but still calm and creamy, and quite unique in its complete command of the palate; almost requires chewing. The sticky, syrupy coating of maple syrup and ground espresso swells with a green and citrusy kind of hoppy flourish, vaguely unpleasant and unwarranted. A frontal attack to every sense, without reservation and without much tact; complex, foreboding, and surprisingly ambiguous in its final, staggering impression.

Rating #500. Bottle courtesy of sprinkle. Pours black as crude oil with a creamy, rusty-brown head that settles first to a thin ring around the glass and then to a slick oily black surface. Swirling the glass leaves temporary iodine-like stains of reddish-yellow hue sliding down the sides. Visibly viscous, I’ve never seen a beer coat a glass quite like this one. After finishing the snifter-full, the glass is coated in a sticky residue as if it had been frosted or lightly acid etched. Interesting. The nose is of huge, roasted, dark malt, light ash and vanilla, licorice, plum and a tiny hint of a soy sauce, concluding with enough alcohol that I was getting a contact buzz just from drawing off of the snifter. Calling this beer "full-bodied" is a complete understatement. Thick and oily with a roasted and lightly bitter finish that includes a nice "warm" alcohol note, the palate features a lingering roasted and moderately hoppy aftertaste that acts as a nice counterpoint to the significant sweetness of the tons of malt that must be used to create this wonderful concoction. Big, sweet, dark roasted malt, plum, brown sugar and a light peaty note all combine to create a delicious brew that concludes with a nice, lingering, roasty/hoppy finish. This is a very good beer and quite deserving of its reputation. Now, I’ll just have to snag another bottle to cellar for a while... damn it. ISO Dark Lord ’07. ;) Thanks again, Mike!

#1,000 - I’m pretty excited about this one - 2007 bottle from footbalm (thanks to an excellent trader!!!). First of all, let me state my feeling of regret at having grown up maybe an hour or so from FFF and never made it to the brewery, let alone to DL day (they were closed on my most recent trip). They do some special stuff and I have really enjoyed all the beers I’ve tried from them - that being said, on with the rating. Dark, blackish color with a light-med tan head and a beautiful hazy look. Aroma has a very special mix of dark, dark chocolate, coffee, heavy roast, assorted sweet flavors - molasses, maple, and fudge, and just a bit of alcohol. Taste is a thick blend of espresso, strong African or East Asian coffees, dark, creamy chocolate, a bit of hop flavor, and various sweet flavors that are pretty amazing. Mouthfeel is so thick and delicious. A really wonderful beer that, at least as far as Impy stouts go, stacks up with the best of em - it matches Expedition and almost gets to Speedway and is incredibly enjoyable. I can’t wait for the year when I can do Dark Lord day, but until then I’ll just have to be happy with the memories of this bottle. Wonderful stuff.

Silver wax 2007 version. Poured into a Dogfish Head snifter on 11/16/07 to celebrate the GF visiting! Motor oil. That’s what it looks like. Used motor oil. It is thick and viscous and there is no head or bubbles whatsoever. A lot of strong RIS’s tend to look like this. This smells a lot older than it is. I would believe that this had been aged for 10 years if you told me so. It also has a ton of maple syrup right up front. Behind that there is come chocolate and brown sugar. It’s a great aroma but doesn’t make me think of an RIS, more of an Old Ale. The alcohol is obvious. Not what I was expecting at all. There is a bunch of flavor in there but it doesn’t make me think of an RIS, just like the aroma. There is dark chocolate, some cherry, and a bunch of wood. It ends bitter with a bunch of alcohol. Thinner than I expected. I like thick stouts but this isn’t one of them. It is still heavy bodied, but I want it thicker. I’ll be honest...this was a bit of a let down. It’s a great beer, but not worth the immense hype. The body won’t increase with time, but the alcohol presence might be reduced and that would improve the taste.

Bottle at Toms Ultimate Glasgow Tasting (2007): Poured a deep rich tar black with a mysterious red haze. The head was bubbly brown. The aroma is strong of coffee and sweet molasses/chocolate. The taste is rich with coffee bean, strong roasted sweet aftertaste. I’m impressed with this beer.

Wow. Pours like crude oil with a beautiful ascending amber head. It’s like a meal by itself. Earthy, chocolate, Roasted coffee. BTW This was a 2007 and I used it to celebrate my Birthday!