Opening this today (11/14/10) to commemorate week #300 of NBS. This is a bottle that I received as part of my 2007 Secret Santa package from BA nlmartin over three years ago. Seems like a good moment, occasion and decision to crack this one now. Price tag says it came from “Dilly Deli”.
750 mL bottle with gold foil on the neck, a plastic “cork” and cage. Small pop on opening. Undated as far as I can see, but as I say this was given to me in 2007.
Jet black body with a few reddish-brown highlights at the extremities (especially the top). Nice head that is small, but leaves a thin film on top of the beer and some broken lace. Mocha in color.
Really big, sweet alcohol hits the nose from the aroma.
Tastes are more of the same from the nose, but surprisingly the beer is VERY light and non-aggressive. Tiny notes of licorice and charcoal, but along with the (surprisingly) gentle warming alcohol, the beer is relatively simple and easy. There is very little evidence of any extensive spices here, but again that may have faded over time. Bitterness builds over the bottle and lingers a little. The bitterness comes from a dark chocolate notes.
A few notes of oxidation but the beer is in decent shape. I wouldn’t want this to get much older so a pretty good decision to open this now.
I’ve never had this fresh, and as such I don’t really know how this has matured but my guess is that time as calmed this beer quite a lot. It’s really extremely mellow and I like it very much.