This little beauty will keep Oleg and his huskies warm against the bitter Ural wind. Russian Imperial Stout is a variety of British stout brewed considerably richer and stronger than the norm. Originally crafted for export to czarist Russia, Catherine the Great, among others, was a known enthusiast.

First, YEM is dark. Dark, dark, dark. When you get your nose down to the rim of the beautiful teardrop glass, on that reddish-brown, lacy head of foam, you will pick up some strong aromatics of chocolate, alcohol and black fruit. Or maybe it’s red fruit, I don’t know. I’m on my third glass already.

The brilliance of its composition becomes clear at first taste, where a deep bass of very rich, sweet chocolaty flavor gives over to high notes of elevated alcohol and then decrescendos to a slight bitterness from highly-roasted malts. If you’re better at this than I am, you may detect some hop flavor-we used British Northdown. Continuing its articulate arpeggio across your palate, YEM trills notes of vanillin, hints of bourbon and oak, and an enchanting tannic note of red wine, with a smooth, creamy licorice flavor that coats without cloying. A final improvised splash of cherry-ish fruit grabs for your attention before a ridiculously long, lingering, espresso-roasted finish.

YEM has been aged since early September in a variety of oak barrels, both American oak from Jack Daniels, and French oak from Cognac used for barrel-aging pinot noir, before being blended back together. It exhibits great complexity contributed by tannins, toasted oak, and oxidation which complement the myriad flavors of malt and alcohol. Several small kegs of unblended, pinot noir barrel-aged YEM will be released at a later date. When? We’ll keep you guessing. It is 10.5% ABV, and quite beguiling for its richness. So please enjoy responsibly.