Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

200th Rating: Poured from a 2007 vintage 22oz bomber and served in a snifter. This brew poured a totally opaque black with a very slight dark tan head that quickly disappeared. Some very sticky, thick, oily legs coated the entire inside of the glass. The aroma of the beer was made up of french roast coffee, dark chocolate, molasses, dark fruits, and also some burnt malt notes. The flavor included strong coffee and chocolate notes, dark cherries and plums, molasses, some lightly smokey burnt malts, and just a hint of vanilla. Just an amazing taste to experience! The mouthfeel was ultra thick and chewy. Definately full-bodied with almost no noticable carbonation. An outstanding beer that is truly worthy of the high praise. Excellent!!!

I need so much more of this godly concoction in my life, but alas, six bottles per year will have to suffice.

Huge thanks to boboski for breaking out this 06 that also went incredibly well mixed in with a slice of cheesecake. Yummmmmy!!! Pours pitch black with brown head. Looks like motor oil with 150K miles on it. The aroma hits sweet with molasses mixed with burnt malts. The thick rich mouth feel makes you go, Mmmmm Yum. Malt sweetness yields to both fruitiness and burnt malts. Also getting in the flavor line are caramelized malts, hints of coffee, dark chocolate, faint toffee and more coffee as the finish approaches. A thick oil slick coats the mouth and punctuates the after taste with rich roasted to burnt malts, coffee and malt sweetness. Darn good brew.

Rating #800

Blind tasting at sk8vikings porter / stout tasting, beer no 13. Huge thanks to badgerben for trading and brewfiend for shipping, I owe you one Ben, this came out as the best brew of the night! 2005 vintage, orange wax. Pours dark brown to black with a lacing brown head. Slight alcohol burning in my eyes, roasted malty, slight smoked, minor toffee note flavour is caramel, roasted malt toffee sweet, quite nice. Dry to bitter finish with a distinct malt flavour beneath. 8-4-8-4-17

Blind tasting at sk8vikings porter / stout tasting, beer no 14. 2007 bottle. Pours deep brown with red hue and no head. Slight eye burning alcohol, dried malty aroma. Thick mouthfeel, low carbonation. Coffee, chocolate and roasted malt in a quite thick fluid blend. Very intense without being overdone in anyway. Quite nice. 7-4-9-4-16

6/10/07. Bomber 2007 vintage. Trade with Beercellar. Cellared my bottle from Ohiodad. Thanks. Not sure if this can live up to expectations and the wait. Deep black almost opaque with a dark brown head. A very viscous pour. Chocolate coffee aroma. Very good mouthfeel amazing not too viscous. The taste is very complex and almost overwhelming. A very dense malty prune dense sweetness with some coffee. Some points off for a soy sauce component.

07 Bottle. Ever since the first day i started drinking craft beer, ive heard of this one, and i doubt i can do it justice. Everything i was expecting and more, because i wasn’t expecting to CHEW this one. Sit in your mouth and does not want to leave at all. Looks like i had a damn oil leak into a glass. So thick and flavorful, lives up to its name at least.

Name: Dark Lord
Date: February 26, 2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Vintage: 2004
Appearance: solid black, scant head, lacy legs
Aroma: sweet chocolate and licorice aroma with light roasted
Body: thick body
Flavor: huge roasted flavor, lots of chocolate, lots of dark ripe fruits, alcohol is present but adds to the complexity, sweetness is well balanced with the chocolate rather than enhancing the chocolate, slight essence of chocolate chalk, the sludge from the bottom is thick like the bottom of a milkshake

Name: Dark Lord
Date: April 28, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2004
still the amazing thick and rich chocolate imperial stout,

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 10/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 9/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.4/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***4

Name: Dark Lord
Date: September 02, 2004
Mode: Bottle
Source: Ale Atlanta
Vintage: 2005
Appearance: black
Aroma: light sweet aroma
Body: huge chewy body
Flavor: lots of roated malt flavor, a touch of fruity character, complex, unfermented sweetness comes and goes - almost cloying at times and hidden at others
Overall: nothing can ever live up to the hype

Name: Dark Lord
Date: May 03, 2005
Vintage: 2005
Appearance: solid black with a brown head
Aroma: vinous roasted malt aroma
Flavor: rich and thick malt flavor, nice roasted malt character, light bitterness, warming with only a touch of alcohol, big bitter coffee finish, thick, syrup
Overall: but the emperor has no clothes

Name: Dark Lord
Date: December 03, 2005
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2005
chocolate character is coming out great, very rich, bitterness is still present but not over powering, getting better

Name: Dark Lord
Date: February 25, 2006
Source: blind coffee stout tasting
Vintage: 2005
Appearance: black, thin brown head
Aroma: sweet chocolate and coffee aroma
Body: creamy body
Flavor: big sweet malt flavor, licorish, coffee, nice roasted character, touch of bitterness in the finish, wonderful combination of flavors, great complexity

Name: Dark Lord
Date: April 28, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2005
some roasted tartness is starting to show up,

Name: Dark Lord
Date: July 15, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2005
Words: vertical
Aroma: dark chocolate is taking over the aroma
Flavor: flavor is starts being dominated by the roast but the dark chocolate comes back to keep it under control, none of the tartness
Overall: just behind the 07 in the vertical

Name: Dark Lord
Date: February 01, 2008
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2005
dark chocolate is coming out stronger than ever,

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 10/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.3/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***4

Name: Dark Lord
Date: May 02, 2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Brewery
Vintage: 2006
Appearance: black, thin brown head that can be roused large before settling down again
Aroma: tart aroma of granny smith apples, roasted malts and a hint of sweet licorish
Body: creamy body that gets really thick at room temperature
Flavor: mostly dry nice roasted flavor with light bitterness, some ripe fruit tries to emerge from beneath the roasted and bitterness, sweetness shows up at room temperature along with a rich chocolate character, the last sip was the best with lots of sweet chocolate blended with ripe plums and raisons and a hair bit too much bitterness

Name: Dark Lord
Date: April 28, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2006
the green apple is gone and allows the rich chocolate shine, closer to the 04 in a vertical

Name: Dark Lord
Date: June 16, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2006
lots of the ripe fruit is coming out to blend with the rich chocolate, the chocolate is very dark and dry, still a hint of green apple in the background,

Name: Dark Lord
Date: July 15, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2006
Words: vertical
appears thin compared to the 05 if you could ever call dark lord thin, green apple almost is covered by the dark chocolate, the weak link in the vertical,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Name: Dark Lord
Date: May 05, 2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Yankee Go Home!
Vintage: 2007
Appearance: black, headless
Aroma: sweet chocolate and roasted malt aroma
Body: big thick body
Flavor: sweet dark chocolate flavor, touch of licorice, sweet vanilla

Name: Dark Lord
Date: May 22, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: road trip
Vintage: 2007
Score: 4.1 to 4.2
Appearance: black, almost headless
Aroma: sweet roasted malt aroma with licorice sweetness
Body: big thick and sticky body that turns creamy by a slight return of the sludge
Flavor: roasted and dark chocolate flavor, touch of espresso character, chocolate gets a bit dry for a while and then keeps getting richer and picks up a bit of milky sweetness, touch of dark fruit that will ripen over the next few years, only a hint of alcohol

Name: Dark Lord
Date: July 15, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2007
Words: vertical
Appearance: the richest of the 3 year vertical
Flavor: most complex array of flavors where the older years are starting to simplify rather than blend

Name: Dark Lord
Date: April 05, 2008
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2007
Aroma: rich and roasty aroma with a nice dark caramel sweetness
Body: thick creamy body after rolling the bottle prior to opening to distribute the yeast and sludge
Flavor: big rich dark chocolate flavor with a lot of roasted, caramel and vanilla sweetness, bitterness from the roasted

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 10/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Name: Dark Lord
Date: April 27, 2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Vintage: 2008
Appearance: black, fine beige head
Aroma: big roasted and coffee aroma with a light ashy character and a light vanilla sweetness
Body: huge body
Flavor: big sweet chocolate and roasted flavor, licorice sweetness, long roasted bitter finish, sweet dark caramel mixes with the chocolate and molasses, lots of sweet caramel, thick chocolate, none of the off characters from years past, touch of hot alcohol

Name: Dark Lord
Date: May 03, 2008
Mode: bottle
Source: cellar party
Vintage: 2008
Aroma: aroma is drier with lots of roasted and dark chocolate
Flavor: lots of sweet chocolate and molasses flavor, a touch too much bitterness that needs age to fade

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***+/4

Name: Dark Lord
Date: April 25, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Tasting, DLD
Vintage: 2009
Appearance: opaque dark brown, fine tan head, bits of lace
Aroma: dark chocolate and roasted aroma, roasty and fruity
Body: thick and creamy body
Flavor: rich chocolate and roasted flavor, touch of vanilla, light coffee

Name: Dark Lord
Date: May 10, 2009
Mode: bottle
Source: roadtrip
Vintage: 2009
Appearance: black, wispy brown head, too viscous to produce any lace
Aroma: sweet dark chocolate and licorice aroma
Body: big creamy body, low carbonation, thick and viscous covers and discolors the side of the glass
Flavor: rich dark chocolate flavor, roasted, touch of black malt bitterness, raw dark sweetness adds balance to the dark roasted malts, alcohol adds a warm peppery touch, light fruityness
Overall: still the biggest stout around

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Courtesy boboski. 2007 vintage. Massively thick, dirty motor oil pour. Virtually black body that does show traces of the darkest mahogany at the top edge. Absolutely no head, just utterly dense darkness. The glass actually feels significantly heavier than a "normal" beer would, and this is the first beer I can say that about. The aroma is awesome, showing big time chocolate of every variety. Licorice, coffee, stewed raisons, and dark rum infiltrate the nose in massive waves. The flavor is equally huge and impressive. Various dark fruits emerge from the chocolatey, coffee liquor depths. Vanilla and hazelnuts add beautiful highlights. Ample resinous hops perform the difficult task of balancing this monster out, and they do it well. The mouthfeel is as thick as any I’ve ever encountered. Viscous and smooth body. The finish is long and pleasant. Just an excellent, over-the-top brew.