 lb4lb (1340), Austin, Texas, USA
May 1, 2008
Poured into a plastic cup at DLD. Pitch black again, and a rich smell of vanilla and chocolate and sweet malt. Fresh scraped vanilla bean flavor in this one. Creamy, chocolately decadent flavor. Very light carbonation, but enough. Like dessert in a cup, but still somewhat balanced. Less soy sauce like character in this one, which I liked. My favorite version of DL.
thickfreakness (53), Austin, Texas, USA
Aug 18, 2008
Tasted on 4/26/08 at DLD
This beer was black as night with no head at all. A very small, dark brown ring of foam lined the glass. This smells incredible, coffee and chocolate with a great vanilla smell taking over everything. The taste combined with the mouthfeel make this like an amazing chocolate and coffee milk shake with the right amount of vanilla to balance out the flavors from the regular dark lord. After sharing this sample and the oak aged dark lord with a friend I felt pretty good. An exceptional beer.
kp (6200), Woodstock, Georgia, USA
Aug 18, 2008 Name: Vanilla Bean Dark Lord
Date: 08/09/2008
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Great Taste
Appearance: black, wispy brown head,
Aroma: sweet chocolate and vanilla aroma with lots of bourbon,
Body: huge sticky body,
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, lots of vanilla sweetness, molasses, touch of roasted,
Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 9/10; Palate: 10/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.4/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ****/4
islay (401), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Aug 15, 2008 Small sample on tap at Great Taste of the Midwest on 8-9-2008. Superb aroma of vanilla (duh) and cherry, like a cherry cordial chocolate candy. The smell is the best of both an imperial stout and a barley wine. Pours dark brown with sable head. Looks like melted chocolate. Delicious taste features vanilla and a lot of oak in addition to the world-class imperial stout taste of standard Dark Lord. Full body; thick. Soft and silky in the palate. I love this beer! It was the best of the fest and, yes, better (slightly) than regular Dark Lord. I just wish I had better notes on it, but it was late in the day after a lot of big beers. What can you do, other than dream of this great brew?
pepsican (667), the beer wastelands of, Iowa, USA
Aug 15, 2008 great taste. Black pour with a small tan head. Vanilla and chocolate dominated the aroma. Flavor was vanilla, coffee, toffee, caramel and maple syrup. Viscous, syrupy sweet. 3 oz was plenty but man was it good.
tytoanderso (1177), St. Louis Park, Minnesota, USA
Aug 14, 2008 Updated: Aug 15, 2008Didn’t put pen to paper all that much this year at the Taste, but I figured I’d be insane not to rate this one. Draft. Dark, melted milk chocolate, toasted vanilla bean, wet, and slightly charred wood on the nose. I thought the vanilla would be more prevalent, but the insane amount of chewy malt and wet wood overpowered most of the vanilla. Pours the standard DL looking thick, sticky, oily jet black with no head. Flavor is chock full of loads and loads of sticky, chewy, thick chocolate. Just a hint of vanilla. Heavy tannic wood presence. Just like drinking chocolate/vanilla pudding with a metallic and tannic wood finish.
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