Matryoshka (Vanilla, Cocoa Nibs and Cinnamon)
Fort George Brewery + Public House

 

Look: nearly opaque black
Smell: cinnamon toasted malt, vanilla, cocoa & bit of bourbon barrel.
Taste: follows nose with a hint of raspberry. The cinnamon & raspberry combine exquisitely.
Feel: is full bodied and rich. Not sticky at all.
Overall: Quite the stout. I'll be buying a case.

8 ball black with a short but dense dark tan head.

This translated as a softer, fluffier and more vanilla forward sort of Hunahpu's to me.

It's lightly roasty and semi-bitter, while a touch of barrel spice complemented by the mild cinnamon brings phantoms of chiles, all via its smoothly silky but medium body.

 

 

Look - black and thick with a great tan head and great rimming
Smell - cinnamon forward with a nice vanilla woody caramel and chocolate
Taste - nice cinnamon chocolate vanilla caramel woody balance
Feel - medium full body with a medium light carb
Overall - really tasty beer

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a half finger dark khaki head with great retention and nice lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, vanilla, cocoa, cinnamon, mild bourbon and a touch of oak. Flavor is dark toasted malt, vanilla, bourbon, vanilla, cocoa, a little oak and cinnamon. Lingering cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate and bourbon finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Another big, flavorful barreled stout. This one is fairly bourbon forward, but the cocoa, vanilla and cinnamon are very well balanced and meld well. Fine Russian imperial stout base. There is an interesting interaction between these flavor adjuncts and the bourbon barrel that creates an interesting almond flavor along the edges of the tongue. Hopefully the lack of reviews of this variant is due to folks letting it sit for a bit. A little hot, this one probably could use a year of cellaring to mellow a bit, but still quite delicious. This has been a fine series of stouts. Very fine.