Old Jock Imperial Stout 20 Years Old
Broughton Ales Ltd

Deep dark brown, with a rich chocolate head, solid but not huge, with a couple minutes retention.
Aromas of dark raisins and prunes, molasses, a hint of black licorice.
The taste offers more prominent molasses with that bitter tang, black currant, black licorice; mild acidity; light carbonation, medium body. That's about it.

Tar comes to mind. This is no rich, chocolatey, unctuous stout. It's...industrial. Interesting, though can't say I love it.

Labelled as "Old Jock Russian Imperial Stout" with 8% ABV. Best before October 31, 2023. Served cold into a tulip. A very steep $15 CDN at the LCBO. Apparently aged 20 years in barrel.

Appearance - Virtually black beer with a half finger of light mocha colored head. A couple streaks of lacing cling to the otherwise untouched glass. A bit of a soapy tan collar forms as the head continually recedes.

Smell - Big nose of leather, molasses, chewy caramel and toffee. Roasty notes provide the ground cover. Basically a big scotch ale, merged with a an imperial stout.

Taste - Some leather, molasses and some inclination of dark fruits. Roasty flavors as well, some burnt malt and some lingering mild bitterness, but the flavors don't really stick. Genereally woodiness too. Molasses keeps reappering as it warms. Even still a serious lack of intensity on the flavors, everything seems kind of muted.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, kind of slick but finishes dry and seems nearly devoid of carbonation.

Overall - An unusual brew to be sure, kind of a wee heavy meets imperial stout, with an absence of booziness, lots of smoothness and some integrated flavors, but at the end, everything is a bit muted, leaving the drinker just a bit disappointed. Worth a tipple if your pocketbook can handle it and this sort of aging brew and conglomeration of styles strikes your fancy.