Black Damnation XXV - Black Nuts
De Struise Brouwers

750 mL bottle. Black body with no head. Smells of strong roasted malt, booze, peaty scotch notes. Tastes of roasted malt up front. Sweetness blends into the scotch, which becomes stronger in the back end. Finishes sweet. Big, boozy, but not unapproachable. Good stout. Maybe not a fan of the barrel, though.

 

A 750ml bottle, number 772/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 2nd March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.

Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin brown head that dissipated quickly while leaving only sparse spotty lacing.

Aroma: Leather, peat, roasted malts, chocolate, oak, burnt sugar, boozy.

Taste: Roasted malts, chocolate, black coffee, peat, ashy, smoky, burnt caramel, boozy, whisky, light to moderate bitter finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.

Overall: It’s an enjoyable sipper, but for the peated barrels, I preferred both Hollow (Laguvulin) and Octopussy (Octomore) just that little bit more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doops shared this one a while back. Cheers!

From a 750 into a snifter
Bottle 556 of 2000
Drank this one and Octopussy back to back

APPEARANCE: A thick, muddy black pour yields a 3 finger, medium looking, foamy tan head with good retention. Black body, opaque, with lower levels of carbonation. Head fades to a full creamy cap. A ring remains until the end but leaves no lacing on the glass. Body is great but the head could use a little work.

SMELL: Roasted notes with plenty of peaty scotch character and earthy tones. Chocolate and leather in there as well. Bold.

TASTE: Peaty scotch barrels with plenty of earthy and leather flavors up front. Tobacco with smoky notes and chocolate flavors at the swallow. A bold and lingering finish of oak, peated scotch barrels, smoky leather and tobacco ash on the palate. a good dose of booze as well.

PALATE: Medium body and higher levels of carbonation. Foamy on the palate, goes down fine and finishes somewhat sticky. A little too prickly and definitely overly foamy and carbonated for the style. Some heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is exactly why it's not worth gambling on these rock-star priced special releases. The character is there but the foamy and overcarbonated execution makes this not nearly worth the price of admission. While the character is rather similar to Octopussy, the smoother and slicker feel makes it the clear winner. Fun to try both of these beers back to back, man. Cheers doops!