12 oz bottle , courtesy of shogokawada.
Pour is a very rich looking, black color but does not have too much viscosity. Thin, creamy film forms on the surface of the beer.
Initial tastes give some nice chocolate malts and a healthy does of booze. These are the main competing/complementing factors. As the beer warms we get more and more liquor and sherry notes and the brew really starts to come into its own. As expected the nose starts to develop with warmth, too; a malt bomb laced with somewhat menacing alcohol.
Although the alcohol based malt is the obvious main factor here, there is a jarring hop bitterness that never leaves. It lingers, and makes itself especially known in the finish. Still, the beer is definitely sweet and nicely balanced considering the massive nature of many of the elements.
This beer remains a brooding, latently aggressive beer but also has style and presence.
A truly great beer when I tasted the original many years ago, and this maintains much of those characteristics. Strong and bold, this is not for the feint of heart.