White Label Imperial Russian Stout Moine BA
Brouwerij Emelisse

 

Gusher!!!! Damn it!!! Lost nearly half. Pours very dark opaque brown with a dense creamy khaki head that leaves a solid film on the surface of the beer. Nose is strong roasted/burnt coffee with whisky lingering in the back. Some brown bread as well. Taste is smoky, coffee, leather, burnt marshmallow, black licorice. Not sweet like some of these 11% RISs. Whisky comes through, especially in the finish, but avoids being too boozy. Overall, a great BA stout that doesn't go half assed. Slightly penalized due to it being a gusher.

 

Pitch black pour, thick and creamy with hardly any head. Smells like burnt bread, or burned seeds, whiskey and dark cherries. The taste is dominated by the peat of the whiskey, like charred grains, with an addition of dark cherries, caramel, dark chocolate and a hint of vanilla. Smooth texture, leaving a nice warm aftertaste.

Missus gave me this one for my b-day. Cheers babe!

From a bottle into a snifter
EBC: 130
EBU: 70
Best Before March 2020

APPEARNCE: A clear black pour yeilds a two finger, medium-thick looking, creamy, dark tan head with great retention. Pitch black body with lower levels of carbonation. Head slowly fades to a full cap and coats the sides of the glass. A ring and splotchy wisp remains with touches of lacing down the glass. Good looking for sure.

SMELL: Big aromas of peated, earthy notes and leather from the barrels, then some dark chocolate, roasted malt and toffee notes as well. Some nice base beer aromas with peat and earthy qualities over top.

TASTE: Peat, oak, toffee, dark chocolate and a touch of sweet cream up front. Very flavorful with more peat and booze at the swallow. Big and lignering finish of earthy peated flavors, leather, dark, bitter chocolate, burnt and roasted malts, toffee sweetness with a bit of sweet vanilla cream. Mostly chocolate bitterness and earthy, peaty flavors. Great stuff all around.

PALATE: Medium-full body and medium levels of carbonation. Enough weight on the palate, creamy for sure, goes down smooth and finishes quite mouth coating. A bit of a scratch at the swallow. No real heat.

OVERALL: This is very, very nice. Excellent even. Another great example of Emelisse taking a stranglehold on barrel aged beers in Europe. Although peated beers are a matter of taste, this is just as good as the Maker's Mark bourbon IRS I'd had just before it. Excellent look and feel to start it all off, then piles of complex, well balanced and bold aromas and flavors that just work so, so well. Well worth trying out, especially if you're a peat fan. Highly recommended.