Turkish Monk
Fonta Flora Brewery

4.25/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

750ml bottle poured into a snifter
2018 vintage

A- pours deep black in color with a one-finger creamy khaki head that has good retention

S- smoked barley gives a peat-like aroma up front along with plenty of cardamon, followed by caramel & chocolate. Undertones of oak, whiskey & campfire

T- smoked malt up front gives notes of campfire, followed by notes of cardamon, chocolate and caramel. Mid-palate gives some oak and whiskey, the finish is more smoked barley

M- medium body with moderate carbonation, slightly foamy mouthfeel and finish

O- the cardamon works well with the smoked barley, very good

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2/5  rDev -50.9%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

The beer is so thin, I would never have guessed this was a stout. I do enjoy the cardamom up front but that is the only flavor present. Whiskey and coffee dont really exist in the back because it is so thin, nothing to support those flavors. Just weird and offputting in the finish

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4.83/5  rDev +18.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Appearance: In what looks like a geology experiment the bubble show produced a two layered head, one darker than the other, before everything settled down; the liquid underneath is coal black; gobs of splashy lacing linger all over

Smell: Toasted brown bread and chocolate, with caramel, coffee and cardamom tones; vague Whisky wafts, as well

Taste: Toasted brown bread and chocolate fudge, with caramel and coffee flavors developing; through the middle, the cardamom becomes more pronounced; after the swallow, the flavors coalesce in a synergistic burst; with the Whisky treatment adding a subtle undertone

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with moderate carbonation; quite creamy, from the oats

Overall: This is what the quest is all about; every now and again you stumble upon near perfection; it can't just be in the traditional style (we've already been there and done that) as there has to be a unique angle and here, the adjuncts of coffee and cardamom really provide that sublime element

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4.12/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 mL bottle. Black. Smell is awesome. Cardamon, coffee, whiskey, and chocolate. Really strong cardamom, but it’s a welcome intensity. Taste is equally strong cardamom. Coffee behind it. Chocolate. Kinda fudgy. Whiskey and oak in the back end. Medium heavy. Very tasty.

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