UPDATED: DEC 17, 2021 Bottle at Christmas. Darkest blackish-brown, very small brown head. Nice bourbon nose, smells very balanced for a huge beer. The flavor is kind of 'holy damn how does a 15.5% beer taste so smooth?' It's sweet, but the hops and bourbon alcohol balances it very well. No soy, very smooth, just a dream of tasty beer and spirits flavors on my tongue. WOW

UPDATED: DEC 17, 2021 Bottle at the Munich Ratebeer Christmas tasting, at Jonas's, Garching, Friday 17th December 2021. Pours almost black with a rapidly diminishing head, don't even know what colour the head was. Sweet, immensely warming, gentle fumes come down the nose, Super thick mouthfeel, coffee and whiskey, lovely, super lovely, but glad we're sharing.

UPDATED: DEC 17, 2021 Bottle. Black, dark chestnut shine, low brown head. Umami/soy, almond, dark chocolate nose. Medium full sweet base, roast, smoke, candy sweet bourbon, very sugary/molassis finish. Dark chocolate retronasal. Intense, too sweet.

UPDATED: DEC 10, 2021 Bottle thanks to Russell. Pours black with medium tan head that lasts. The aroma is dark fruit, oak, roast, bourbon. Slick body, raisin, licorice, toffee, wood, boozy finish, enjoyed this.

UPDATED: NOV 20, 2021 White waxed bottle at home. Very dark brown, foamy beige head. Overly sweet chocolate and coffee, mocha, sugary, toffee, porto-ish fruity, wine-ish, boozy. Aftertaste is pretty nice, lots of porto-ish chocolate stuff. Firm body, low carbonation.

UPDATED: SEP 19, 2021 Bottle. Dark brown pour with a fleeting kaki. So, I get the sweet barley wine, dark fruit, and caramel. Not so much the stout. Good body and mouthfeel.

UPDATED: SEP 18, 2021 375 mL bottle. Pours black. Smells of lots of bourbon, heavy roasted malt, alcohol. Tastes quite sweet. Bourbon, brown sugar, some dark fruits. Heavy, sweet, boozy. Missing the roasted malt that I get in the nose, but it's still tasty.

UPDATED: JUL 12, 2021 Bottle courtesy of “AKFaust”. Colour….jet black with a thick tan head. Nose…boozy with dark raisins, dates, black currant and turbinado. Palate…unctuous, cloying and loaded with dried black cherries, Brooks prunes, dark toffee, treacle and white peppercorns. The mid palate is still quite sweet, but it now has a quasi astringent bitterness. The finish is very long and warming and has nice notes of vanillin, brown sugar and burnt marshmallow.

UPDATED: JUL 4, 2021 From wax-topped bottle in tulip. Pours near black w/a cm of dark reddish-brown head, aroma of choc, leather, dark fruits, light balsamic. A rich sipper, choc, dark cherry & plum up front, peppery spice in the finish. A big beer for the 4th, Happy 245th Bday USA!

UPDATED: MAY 6, 2021 It's the smell of barley and whiskey, slightly chocolate on the reheat, less frothy but not consistent, heavy on the mouth, slightly sweeter with markedly chocolate, soy sauce, bourbon, barley, but not markedly markedly.