Poll: Which Dark Lord vintage is the best?

Why leave off 2004 and 2005?

I had a 2005 a month ago and it was great (by Dark Lord standards).
I would have chose 2005 but my second would be 2007!

 

Vanilla Brandy 2011 or Cognac Muerte 2012.

 

I'll let you know on 10/28!

 

I've never had it, but man is it a polarizing beer. It's early, but ``2008'' and ``The stuff is Undrinkable'' are neck-and-neck.

 

I've only had one vintage. 2010 almost 8 months ago. Loved it. Want more.

 

2008 was my favorite vintage fresh, mildly aged, and with about 3 years on it. However, the last two bottles I've had of 08 were sub par (compared to the same beer with less age).

2011 is by far my favorite vintage at the moment. It was perfect at release, drinking great now, and I hope well for the next few years.

It seems that about 3 years of age is all that Dark Lord can take and still improve. I hope 2012 follows the same course...

Cheers!

 

Had a bottle of 2008 Dark Lord the night before FOBAB last year and that beer made me a believer in Dark Lord. Every other year that I have drank; I've hated on it to be honest. I have drank 2009 through 2012 fresh. 2010 was good fresh, but didnt like 2010 with a year on it. 3 Floyds got too "big" with Dark Lord Day and they just want to roll around in money from mass producing dark lord instead of focusing on quality of the beer. With that said the older vintages are much better beer before Dark Lord got really hyped.

 

2008 was amazing. I had DL fresh in 2012 and the 2008 blew it away.

 

I have had 08 to 12, and 08 crushes all of the rest I've had. 08 is the only one I liked

 

It all depends on when you drink/drank them. A lot of people didn't like 2009 and 2010 when they came out, but I actually think they've both improved a lot over time, and think the 2010 is drinking great right now. 2007 was great few years ago, but now is a quarter sludge. 2008 was fantastic a few years ago. 2011 was not very good fresh, but I haven't tried it since right around DLD that year.

It also depends on what you like in a stout. 2009 was crazy sweet and had a lot of dark fruits which turned a lot of people off. 2010 has a lot more roasted notes and chocolate.

From my experiences, I'd rank them in the following order (ranking each at the best I've had it, so at differing times):

2008
2007
2010
2009
2012
2011

 

2013 fresh wasn't half bad! Certainly better than the last few years fresh IMO.

 

Few months back my tasting group did '06-'12. I think '08 was consensus for us at #1.

 

Just did a 6 year vertical of 2007-2012 about a month ago, and 2008 was the CLEAR winner (and not just by me, but most of those doing the tasting agreed)

 

2011 was yellow wax, is that right?

 

i thought the soy sauce was starting to show too much, but good

 

yes

 

Left to right is 2007-2012, for wax reference