UPDATED: MAR 4, 2020 12 oz bottle (Old Notes) Pours black with a decent tan head. Aroma of coffee, chocolate, and roasted malt. Taste of the same some caramel coming thru as well. This full bodied brew is not bad but the coffe is a bit dominating.

22-Jan-11 (12-oz bottle: Obtained in trade with shadey, thanks Shane!) Granted, I’ve let this beer cellar a bit longer than I intended to, but it’s aged impressively well nevertheless and the core is still very much there. Dry entry flavors of dark roast, coffee, molasses, and licorice are complemented by a nice, medium-sweet finish of blackstrap molasses, earth, chocolate, and cocoa. Dare I say this is actually delicious? The wonderfully aromatic and enjoyable nose offers a strong, undeniable aroma of blackstrap molasses, plus chocolate bar, licorice, chocolate milk, prunes, and a touch of coffee with milk. Very enticing indeed! Medium-plus in weight with moderate carbonation and a balanced, pleasantly dry finish. Very dark brown in color with good clarity and some transparency at the edges. The beige head pours small as expected and settles to a thin ring, leaving a fair amount of spotty lace on the glass. Overall, this is a solid beer, and it’s cellared unexpectedly well. Considering that this is one of my highest rated beers from Saranac in 17 years of reviewing (38 total beers reviewed, and my first Saranac rating was way back in April of 1994), I gotta wonder if it’s improved with age because this is much better than the mediocrity I’ve come to expect from this brewery. I rarely finish a bottle of Saranac beer, but this one is enjoyable enough that I just might! Cheers!

I love Saranac even if their beers tend to be a little simple. Dark black pour. Nose and tastes of light mocha. Some chocolate malts. Rated 11/5/01

man this was awful., A dry bitter coffee flavor predominates this brew, but its just to much and never blends in with the other flavors.

Bottle. Pitch black, tall brown head. Burnt malt, coffee and chocolate aroma. Very well roasted. Very burnt flavor as well, and lots of coffee. Just a touch of sweetness balances the bitter and roasted side well. Rather creamy as well. Burnt, coffee finish that lasts a long time. Fairly well carbonated for a stout, maybe a bit too much. Good stuff.

Bottle. Pours a brown body with a tan head. Roasted malt, hints of chocolate and a light spiced note, roast y and a note of licorice. Decent.

Pours dark brown with a tan head. Smells of coffee. Tastes overly sweet with caramel and coffee overwhelming everything.

Very, very good!!! The aroma is very full of malts, chocolate, and some coffee. It’s appearance is very dark close to black. It’s head is about a finger and 1/2 thick. The taste is essentially chocolate, coffee, malt, and spices. Very smooth.

UPDATED: JUL 8, 2008 I was impressed and enjoyed this one! Right away a strong chocolate aroma hits you, reminded me of a desert beverage. Pretty good look too, black colored, thick tan head and some moderate lacing forms on the side of the glass. After a few sips I quickly tasted a rather smooth, enjoyable chocolate taste. There’s more than just chocolate to it though. There is a nice amount of malts in there too. Slightly bitter, roasted chocolate finish and aftertaste. Saranac says there’s coffee in there too, I didn’t really get a lot of that. Nice, enjoyable sweet Stout.

ugh, this beer was terrible. Yeah it looked nice when u poured it, a dark brown, with good head, but man did it taste bad, couldnt drink more than enough to taste it.