UPDATED: SEP 2, 2021 Bottle from Waitrose - still can't get used to Supermarkets stocking impys! This is mahogany-black with a thin but lasting tan head and a middling amount of fizz. Ooh... it's fruity! Yep, lots of homemade strawberry jam. Smoke. Caramel. Sherry. Leather. Black coffee. Vanilla. Victoria sandwich cake. There's a lot going on here. Pretty sweet with a dry finish. It's a very interesting beer and I loved it at first, but the more I drank the more I felt it was just a bit too jammy, and didn't quite gel as a whole. Maybe it suffered by comparison with the Redchurch brew I'd had just before. It's still very, very good, just not as good as I thought from the first taste.

UPDATED: JUL 13, 2021 Bottled, 330ml from Waitrose in Banbury, Oxon. Black with tan head. This is a big dark beer, roasted malts with a charcoal edge, coffee bitterness, tarry, molasses. There is a note of sticky dates in the beer along with red wine and plum. Full on throughout. Good beer.

UPDATED: MAR 30, 2021 Bottle 330ml; Look: Jet black with off-white head. Nice lacing. Aroma: Dark roasted malt, brown sugar, wine Taste: dark roasted malt, liqorice, molasses, red wine, well balanced Body: medium Overall: Delicious

UPDATED: OCT 9, 2020 Creamy tan head stayed on a dark brown still body. Heavy malt & chocolate aroma. Medium to full bodied, smooth, creamy & lighter on the back with clean aft. Sweet stewed fruit, jam, nutty, light coffee, liquorice & chocolate tastes with a big boozy red wine finish. Excellent!

UPDATED: OCT 2, 2020 I’ve really got a penchant for dark beer at the moment, this is no exception. Deep, dark, chocolate malt, rich and iron clad, off the scale complexity. Warming alcohol at 10.5% abv. What a beer. Perfect to sup on by a roaring log fire infront of the tv or pair with rich decadent sticky toffee pudding.

UPDATED: SEP 15, 2020 330ml bottle from Waitrose Pontypridd. Drunk watching a programme about cats on BBC4. Dark appearance, thin tan ring circling the glass. Nice comforting aroma with milk chocolate, vanilla, almond. Oily palate, medium bodied with welcome vinous shades accompanying the molasses and subtle liquorice. A harmonious blend overall, really satisfying.

UPDATED: JUL 17, 2020 initially enjoyed very well. A whole bottle is a lot. Taste like a Brewdog barrelled IS.

UPDATED: JAN 17, 2020 Pours a very dark reddish brown, nearly black, very small head. Aroma is some coffee, cinnamon sweetness, nectarine. Taste is quite sweet up front, strong coffee, gaining in bitterness into a long, dark roasty finish. Medium-full bodied. Really good!

UPDATED: JAN 13, 2020 Black with a medium light brown head. Aroma of burned malt, coffee and some wooden barrels end. Sweet with a burned malt and coffee ending.

UPDATED: DEC 8, 2019 Aroma of coffee, chocolate, dried fruits and hints of liquorice and wood. Black with a tan head. Medium to heavy sweet and medium + bitter. Medium to full body with average carbonation. Dry and bitter finish. Overall a great Imperial Stout. Nicely balanced fvlavour with well hidden alcohol.