Grande Cuvée Déjeuner Impérial
Les Trois Mousquetaires

Deep dark brown, not forming much of a head, likely due to the years (this is 2020 vintage), but with a swirl it's a dark mocha like an espresso head.
Rich, deep dark chocolate aroma, coupled with rich fruity sweetness like a rum barrel - cherry, ripe banana, date. Very enticing.
Wow that is lovely - rich, rich flavours of liquid dark chocolate, black forest cake, cream, bananas foster, marshmallow, cola; the velvety chocolate lingers in the finish, along with candy sweetness and a whisp of lactose (a touch too sweet for my taste); some alcohol bite provides makes an attempt at balance, but the sugars take over quickly; not much in the way of roast bitterness to balance things out; feel is silky, with light, super-fine carbonation, and a medium-heavy body, feel is sticky, syrupy. Looking at the tasting notes, yes, I can see maple in the sweetness of it, and it does help it be more interesting that straight up candy sugar.

A real treat, this is more like dessert than breakfast. I'd love some more malt and bitter character through the finish, all that seems to linger is the sugars. It's no Founder's, but it's very good.

 

 

Les Trois Mousquetaires 'Grand Cuvee Dejeuner Imperial' @ 11.5% , served from a corked/caged 750 ml bottle 2022 vintage
A-pour is a dark cola brown from the bottle to a black in the glass with a small size tan head dissipating into a minimal lace ring along the tulip
S-Bourbon , aged 9 months in 12 year old barrels
T-Bourbon dominates , dark chocolate & coffee , as the beer warms it becomes a tough swallow
MF-mild carbonation , big full body
Ov-big beer in a big bottle , a true slow sipping beer , (currently 12th best beer in Canada)
prost LampertLand

Good head production and decent retention.

Intensely woody aroma, replete with oak, maple wood, and bourbon. Smells imposing, but in a good way. Second sniff reveals some of the maple syrup sweetness, along with some chocolate and roast from the malt base.

A touch thinner than expected on the palate. The initial flavor is similarly weak as you savor, with some cola, prune, and weak chocolate, until the swallow, and the liquid rushes over your palate, revealing all the notes the nose implied: maple syrup, oak, bourbon, maple wood, coffee. Bourbon is noticeable throughout but not prominent. Decent alcohol heat, but very approachable and easy to sip and savor despite the high ABV. Effervescence about the gums through the finish.

Roasty finish carrying more notes of oak and coffee.

This one does lose some of its impact due to the lighter body, but the flavor profile is on point. Lovely beer overall. In a strange way, the thinner mouthfeel gives me the impression of a more delicate French-Canadian take on a flavored imperial stout, instead of the over-the-top thick American pastry stout approach. Still, a bit more heft would be appreciated.

Poured from a howler purchased at Collective here in Cowtown.

Appearance - Pours a jet black with two fingers of frothy mocha tan head.

Smell - earthy, leafy, and floral hops, bourbon barrel, oak, cocoa, coffee bean, maple syrup, roasted malts, and earthy yeast.

Taste - earthy, leafy, and floral hops upfront. Then the brew goes into the bourbon barrel, oak, and cocoa. The coffee bean takes predominance in this one followed by the sweetness from the maple syrup. The roasted malts and earthy yeast round out the brew.

Mouthfeel - Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes smooth with the coffee bean, bourbon barrel, and maple syrup lingering.

Overall - A very tasty and highly dangerous tipple of a brew. For my favourite local craft beer store to get their hands on a keg of this was a pleasant surprise. This is one fine tipple on this near frigid winter Cowtown evening!

 

Lot 20, consumed 27Oct2019.

A Rare Beer Club offering. Pours a dark brown with a tan head that lasts quite a while. Aroma of dark chocolate and roasted malts. Taste is sweet vanilla and alcohol. Smooth and creamy with a slightly bitter finish.

 

Solid base imperial stout with big roasted coffee aroma and a nice maple flavor to finish.

Poured from 750 mL bottle into snifter.
A: Pours an extremely dark black-brown hue with 1-2 bubbly dark mocha head with good retention.
S: Lovely aromas of dark roast coffee and maple syrup, followed by smooth dark chocolate, layers of deeply roasted malt, and a hint of nuttiness. Very fresh breakfast aroma!
T: Follows aroma extremely well, and then some, with dark roast coffee, dark bittersweet chocolate, and maple syrup hitting first, followed by vanilla, toasted oak, burnt sugar, bourbon, almond, and dark caramel.
M: Medium-heavy body. Coating and slightly viscous feel. Layers of dark sweetness with some coffee and chocolate bitterness and mildly astringent oak tannins.
D: An excellent example of an imperial breakfast stout. To be honest, not my favorite style, but this one is beautifully crafted and its coffee and maple syrup elements are extremely fresh. Welcome to breakfast!

 

Medium: Aged 6 months, cork + tulip glass.
Opacity: Almost opaque.
Color: Black with a light copper hue.
Head: Slightly creamy brown 1 finger.
Legs: Poor but very strong lacing with mild swirl reaction.
Smell: Cocoa/Maple/Vanilla/Walnuts.
Taste: Cappuccino/Prunes/Liquorice/Bourbon/Herbal.
Feel: Roasted/Earthy/Dark esters/Barrel aged.
Body: Medium creamy and silky.
Carbonation: Soft crisp.
Overall: Quite warming, close to an appetizer but still easily drinkable being not overly sugary. Superb quality craft.

Visual 6/10 - Flavors 9/10 - Sensations 9/10 - Balance 9/10 -
Freshness 3/10 - Intensity 9/10 - Complexity 9/10 - Appreciation 9/10

★★★★½
Voici à quoi ressemble la satisfaction!
C'est difficile à croire, mais c'est mon premier produit de cette microbrasserie et ce n'est pas n'importe lequel. Une puissance incontrôlable se déchaîne dès qu'on retire le bouchon. Au premier abord on a l'impression d'une douceur calme et apaisante, mais les saveurs se transforment rapidement en une intensité majestueuse. Une véritable main de fer dans un gant de velours! Wow!

Serving: Bottle
Bottled: Oct-22-2019 (Consumed Nov-17)


It pours thick and pitch black with a finger plus of brown head that settles at a patchy film and a ring. Dotted-line lacing. Smells like what you'd expect. Roast coffee notes with some roasted nuts, candied cashews, dark chocolate, milk chocolate and caramely maple. Really nice and it melds together well with time in the glass. The flavor is more of the same with mocha and coffee grounds up front followed by a woody, Bourbon-barrel-tinged finish with some maple sweetness. Pretty fizzy carbonation for the style, full bodied and kind of a sticky sweet finish. Like most of their beers this is a very well-made beer that nails the style. While oftentimes a beer that does this lacks a little oomph to push it over the top to being excellent, this one doesn't in that the aroma and flavor pop a little more than they could and the layering of the different flavors and aromas comes across in a way that is noticeable but not overly big or anything. It is definitely a little sweeter than I'd like in an ideal world and is a little overly fizzy, but it is very nice overall. I'd gladly have this one again and would be curious to try it again in a few months.

As a note for others, I only drank one glass out of the bottle, put a wine saver in and left it in the fridge for two more days. It picked up a little touch of oxidation over these two days and I think it definitely improved it overall. That is obviously far from definitive, but I'd say is a good sign that you can safely sit on this one for a few months at least, depending on your tastes. I could see it mellowing a little and bumping my overall to 4.5. It is a very good beer. I will perhaps try that in the future, and if so I will update my review. For now, though, I'll leave my numbers for a fairly fresh bottle.

4...4.5...4.25...4.25...4.25

2019 release, 12 month in bourbon with maple wood chips and maple syrup and coffee cold infused.

A: Looks par for the course: pours pitch black with a mocha colored head with pretty good retention. and lacing.

S: Strong smell intensity. Smells of sweet maple coffee with chocolate undertones. The bourbon comes in very strong with vanilla, pepper, leather and maybe even a little bit of smoke. The imperial stout base gives solid aromas of dark red fruits with dried cranberries, cherries and raspberries. Light minerality. Pleasant, complex and coherent.

T: My god, this is truly amazing. First, the cold infused coffee notes indicate a high quality coffee used. It brings chocolate and dark acidic fruits. Then, there is a strong marshmallow note front and center (from the vanilla of the bourbon and the high amount of residual sugars). Maple comes in at the end with actual maple syrup notes. There is even some light amount of tannins from the wood. Pepper, leather and smoke comes at the very end in the after taste. The imperial stout base brings in another facet of chocolate, coffee and ripe cherries. Every single notes in the taste of this beer compliments it well without anything overpowering the other. Flavors come and go in the mouth.

M: Full, silky and lucious. It coats the mouth completely and doesn't feel sticky even though there is a large amount of residual sugars.

O: This 2019 edition is easily the best beer produced in Quebec that I had the chance to drink. It's very complex but highly coherent. This is a beer that is produced by very mature brewer who understands how to correctly balance flavors of such intensity. IMO, it is more mature and more coherent than CBS (with better quality coffee notes), therefore better.

 

 

 

 

Very tasty IS, with cold brewed coffee. Maple syrup adds sweetness, bourbon not overwhelming. ANother great porter or stout from 3M, Thanks Ryan for the share.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color ale with a nice large brown foamy head with great retention and excellent lacing. Aroma of light roasted malt with some sweet black chocolate notes with some bourbon notes and nice floral coffee notes. Taste is a good mix of roasted malt with some sweet black chocolate notes, residual sugar notes, some bourbon and vanilla notes with some floral coffee notes with no bitterness or astringency. Light maple notes are also noticeable. Body is full with nice creamy texture and great carbonation with no real apparent alcohol notes. A masterpiece and something I wish would be more widely available.