Softly Falls
Single Hill Brewing

Poured from 12oz can into my BeerAdvocate teku. Canned November 2022, so this guy has been aged a bit over a year.

Appearance: black with no light let through at all; love it. Head is a finger of frothy tan foam that didn't stick around too long.

Smell: sweet, rich, and malty; no surprise there. I get the hints of graham cracker coming through, with just a tiny bit of the chocolate and vanilla. I don't get a ton of peat here, but there's a little bit of the barrel character coming through. Interestingly complex, although not super over-the-top.

Taste: wow, this is even sweeter than I would have guessed from the aroma. On top of that, there's some nice, subtle chocolatey character, along with some rich dark fruits that I associate with a good imperial stout. The graham, peat, and vanilla are much less in evidence here than in the aroma, which is to say, barely at all from what I can tell. Even so, this is a tasty and delightful treat.

Mouthfeel: medium-rich body with a good carbonation and a rich, smooth creaminess.

Overall: this is a damn fine stout. I don't necessarily get all the flavors that the label hints at, but nevertheless it's quite an enjoyable treat.

Softly Falls pours from a 12 ounce can a dark mahogany. with just a very slight head that disappears pretty fast. The smell is cocoa, vanilla, and light whisky. The taste is similar, with a bit of Scotch whisky peatiness, just a bit. The underlying stout is fairly light, as stouts go. There are some dark roasted malts, but they are fairly mild. It's just slightly sweet. I wouldn't call this a pastry stout at all. The body is lighter than usual for an imperial stout, but that's a feature not a bug. Overall, it's a well blended stout, very very smooth, and very drinkable. Even the 11.6 ABV is not too noticeable.

My first beer from Single Hill. I'm a fan!

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, whiskey, light vanilla and peat; inviting. Flavor is dark toasted malt, whiskey, light bakers chocolate and vanilla; light earthy peat in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A barrel forward imperial stout with light, but pleasant chocolate and vanilla flavors. Not getting much graham cracker and presented as a dessert stout, this is much drier than described, which I'm grateful for; I like these ingredients, but not so excited about sweet dessert/pastry stouts any more. Whiskey is the dominant flavor here, and although the stout base supports it well, it masks the other flavors, which are present, but muted. Some peat in the finish; I could have used more, but I'm a Scotch fan.. A solid whiskey barreled stout with pleasant light adjunct flavors and a bit of smoke. Single Hill is doing a great job on their barrel stouts.