Black Damnation XXIII - Hollow
De Struise Brouwers

 

A 750ml bottle, number 1134/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 22nd March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.

Appearance: Black in colour with a half finger brown head that had decent retention, and settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some sparse lacing.

Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, licorice, leather, peat, smoky, whisky.

Taste: Sweet roasty malts, chocolate, coffee, dried dark fruits, licorice, peat, whisky.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied, with soft carbonation.

Overall: An enjoyable sipper with good aroma and flavours, and one of my favourite Black Damnation variants.

Pours jet black with soft light brown head.

Smell is sweet and roasty with notes of soy sauce, smoke, whisky, coffee and golden syrup.

Taste is rich and powerful with coffee and chocolate up front, followed by some charred smokey notes, peat and oaky whisky. Complex and deep, it opens up and mellows out with some warmth.

Mouthfeel is full, thick and oily, with decent carbonation.

Overall, a terrific monster of a stout. Great Lagavulin notes and nice complexity.

 

 

Aged in Lagavulin whiskey barrels.
Look: Fantastic whipped cream head with decent staying power. Uncommon for BA stouts.
Smell: I've got a cold but I'm getting some chocolate and not much else
Taste: Strongly reminiscent of the base Black Albert. Malt is a bit on the burnt end of the spectrum. Once the palate warms up past that, there's quite a bit of chocolate and nuts. Whiskey barrel is certainly weak compared to others in this series. Subtle, even.
Feel: Moderate for your BA stout, nothing noteworthy here
Overall: Not the best in the series, but another unique and delicious take on one of my favorite stouts. Worth sharing a bottle, but not worth the significant sticker price to keep it for yourself.