12 oz bottle from a recent trade.
Wow, quite a shocking beer in many ways.
Firstly the pour is really, really, really good looking. Jet black with with no light penetrating and ome incredibly colored head – literally like a deep, rich espresso. The appearance is so striking that I am almost expecting a coffee-based RIS with twice the alcohol that this thing has. Looks viscous.
The next odd thing is that there really is hardly any smoke here at all. Not in the nose or the tastes. It “sort of” appears a touch, but this could be because of the roasted malts as much as anything else. Not smoky by virtally any standard.
Very rich in the mouth wil plenty odf silky smoothness. I anm curious as to the ABV since this drink in a manner that suggests it’s really quite high, but the tastes don’t burn or create much evidence to suggest it is really big.
Light licorice followed by the requisite roasted malts and slightly burned character, but again I don’t really feel a big smoke element at any point in the process.
A VERY rich looking and drinking beer without much smoke and a curiously elusive alcohol content.