Grande Cuvée Porter Baltique
Les Trois Mousquetaires

750 ml bottle into a snifter. 2022 edition. Had 10/3/23.

Pours a mostly opaque dark cola color, with a quarter inch foamy head and light foamy lacing. Aromas of malt, vanilla, coffee, some molasses, light chocolate. Smells herbal and a little smoky. Flavors of chocolate, coffee, malt, some molasses, light plum. Tastes somewhat herbal and there’s a light sweet note when warmed. Smooth, a very good fuller body, well carbonated.

Really enjoyed this. Big chocolate and coffee notes, with solid aromas and flavors overall. Well worth a purchase.

July 2016: RBESG 2016 in Barcelona. On tap at NaparBCN. Nearly black colour. Sweetish aroma of malts and molasses. The molasses flavour was WAY too sweet for me - at least in a setting like this, a multiple beers tasting.

Undated bottle; drank 8/27/23 @ the Yarchives.

Black/brown appearance.

A rough pour yielded a nice, noisy tan head; decent lacing remained.

Fresh earth, dark chocolate & faintly tart plum notes in the nose.

Creamy medium thick mouthfeel.

Dark chocolate, burnt caramel. mild fresh earth & faint tart plum flavors. Kind of a stunner. Even better on draft.

750 ml caged bottle with a new label dated 06/10/22. Deep rich mahogany look, less than a fingers worth of head. A tad sweeter than I would like, but on point with rich flavour, Expands in flavour a bit when it warms up.
Feels perfect in the mouth, goes down easy. Slight bitterness see saws between ok and then being overpowered by sweetness. I'll probably try another bottle for scientific purposes. Pricey.

 

Production date 06/10/22. Poured a 750ml caged and corked bottle into a pint glass. A one finger tan head on black, The head diminished to a ring shortly.
Coffee and cocoa smells.
Very smooth. Sticky. Roasted malts. cocoa. ABV is well hidden. Molasses, smoke. Lots in there. A very mild hop finish.
Medium body and low carbonation.
Top quality. A rare and interesting style.

 

L: Almost black with a 2 finger brown head

S: Bourbon, chocolate, smoke, a bit of ethanol

T: Smoked malt, coffee, sweet bourbon. Ethanol a bit too much for my liking and masks the good flavors.

F: Round and smooth

O: This would probably be more enjoyable at 9% where the chocolate/coffee wouldn’t be masked by alcohol.

 

Smooth, sweet, weak carbonation, medium plus body, well-hidden alcohol.

 

Very dark brown with modest foam in the Orval chalice. Burnt sugar taste that does not quit. And licorice, molasses, brown sugar. Even a touch of maple syrup. You could add every other sweet thing from figs to fruitcake. It just doesn't quit even after you're ready for something else, like water would be my next drink.

Monstrous big and sweet malt monster. The aftertaste has a hint of sourish burnt malt but not much bitterness. A few sips are quite interesting, but I liked it better mixed with a "normal" stout. From the 750 ml bottle purchased at Elizabeth Station in Bellingham.

 

 

Poured almost black in color with a thin tan head that dissipated quickly and no lacing.

Tastes of heavy charred malts mixed with dark fruit, tobacco and candied molasses. Not too sweet aftertaste and lingers wonderfully. Med body and low carbonation make this a top pick.

 

It's a sweet one, and leaning into imperial stout territory with a big, rounded feel and sticky, full body... Rich with lotsa chocolate syrup, and enough bitter, drier espresso to pull the sweetness back and keep it from being cloying; a hint of smoke...

 

750 mL cork & cage bottle bought at the LCBO years ago; production date "06/08/2014" and served barely chilled. The back label states that it can be aged for 3-5 years... and I'm roughly one year beyond the far end of that scale, so keep that in mind, and take this review with a grain of salt (unless you've also been sitting on a bottle for 6 years).

Pitch black and functionally opaque, with a rough pour generating nearly one finger of creamy, beige-coloured head that settles off within a few minutes. A modest collar of tight foam sticks around, but little else remains; lacing is scant at first, but it does build up as the level drops. Looks better than I'd expect for its age, 10% abv or not. Its aroma is rich, smoky and rife with ethanol fumes, also including notes of molasses, roasted grains and caramel, as well as hints of dark roasted coffee beans, baker's chocolate, black licorice candy and figgy dark fruits. So far I am impressed.

Positively delicious - a little fruitier than on the nose, with date, fig and cherry at the forefront, sharing the limelight with molasses, toffee, bready wheat and roasted grain; minor hints of sherry, smoke and almonds. Things become a tad bit more boozy towards the finish - more sherry and fig, as well as notes of black licorice, coffee and dark chocolate lingering into a moderately warming aftertaste. Full-bodied, with low carbonation and a slick, smooth, oily feel on the tongue. Quite possibly the smoothest 10% beer I've ever consumed - yeah, you can tell the alcohol's there, but it blends in so well that describing a beer as 'dangerous' has rarely been more appropriate.

Final Grade: 4.34, an A grade. If beers were meals, then LTM's Porter Baltique would be a five course feast - hell, there's more than enough sustenance in this bottle to keep a feller fed and lubricated all Friday night. I've aged enough beer to know when one is starting to show signs of oxidation - and while I wouldn't say that this was totally free of any, they didn't greatly interfere with the experience IMO. A supremely bold beer that rightfully deserves its world-class, currently "Top 5 in its style" distinction.