2022 Double Happiness
Lucky Envelope Brewing

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a 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, mild cocoa, clove, cinnamon and a touch of anise. Flavor is dark toasted malt, vanilla, cocoa, mild whiskey and five spice mix, with cinnamon, clove and pepper the more dominant in the spicing. Pleasant, moderate five spice finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. This turned out quite nicely. Five spice mix has a lot of strong, dominating flavors in it, most notably cinnamon, clove, anise and pepper any one of which can be overwhelm other flavors. It is deftly handled here; the malt and body are a little thinner than expected for this size stout, but are fully supportive of the vanilla, cocoa and spice mix. The whiskey barreling effect is is very mild, but adds some more character. This is nicely made, interesting and flavorful; festive. Wish I had picked up another can.