Got a few vintage De Molens, with this one the drinking date will match the bottling date so I picked it for today. Bottled 29/04/16 so five years ago roughly. Doesn't foam and pours into glass slowly and lightly. Scent of roasted coffee, licorice, some bourbon. Wet woody, caramel and chocolate. Taste has vanilla-ish bourbon, caramel, licorice, lot of roasty bitterness, dry finish with roasty sweet tang. That annoying sweet tang which I haven't tasted in a while. Quite astringent finish. Body is light, fluid and quite dry. Good flavours mostly cover up for it. Quite bitter as well. Hmmh. Challenging with light body, lot of dryness and roasty bitterness. Won't likely finish the whole bottle. Goes nicely along the style of Russian Imperial Stout though, can't argue with that. Best before goes until 25 years from bottling, but I really wonder if this ain't past its prime already. Don't know how this was stored though.

Vähä vaahtoinen. Tumman ruskea, lähes musta. Sakka erottuu lasin reunalla, samoin kaato vaiheessa lasiin molskahtanut sakka klimppi erottuu lasin pohjalla. Parasta ennen 29.04.2041, ehkä tuokin klimppi olisi siihen mennessä juurtunut pullon pohjaan. Tuoksu on erinomainen, vaniljainen bourbon tynnyri pääosassa ja aavistus kahvia. Maku on tuoksun mukainen, alussa tuntuva makeus kääntyy jälkimaussa kuivaksi puumaisuudeksi ja pieneksi paahteiseksi kitkeryydeksi. Kerrassaan hyvä olut, mutta tuo hyytelömäinen sakka klimppi jäi hieman askarruttamaan.

De Molenilla näköjään enemmänkin ongelmia oluidensa hapotuksen suhteen... (viitaten täällä arvostelemaani sessio IPAan ”Hugs&Kisses”, joka täytti koko lasin vaahdolla) tämä yksilö lähes täysin flätti. Tuoksussa reilusti kuivattua hedelmää(luumu, taateli, rusina yms.), hieman suklaata, viskiä ja aavistus kahvia. Liköörisen makeahko maku, jossa edelleen reippaasti kuivattua hedelmää, kaakaoista tummaa suklaata, hieman paahdetta ja jälkimaussa lämmittävää viskiä! Suutuntuma on pehmeä, mutta runko on yllättävän ohkainen! Ihan ok BA stoutti, mutta hintaansa nähden jätti kyllä kylmäksi.

😋

My first 5 stars goes to this delicious thing. Like drinking smooth whiskey but in very delicious chocolate stout way.

Hedelmäinen, suklaisen paahteinen. Kahviakin löytyy. #CraftBeerHelsinki2016

Kahvia paahdetta. Pehmeä ja varsin juotava.

Saw De Molen in the brewery list of craftbeer helsinki and saw that they had the Hel & Verdoemenis Bourbon BA, and I instantly knew I had to have a taste since the regular one itself impressed me greatly. The aroma has roasted malts, espresso coffee and woody notes from the barrel, among with bourbon and chocolate hints. Smooth mouthfeel with some chocolate sweetness kicking in straight up. Turning into vanilla and strong coffee notes along with roasted malts. Some wood notes in the finish along with a delicate alcohol burn and a nice shade of bourbon with it. Really well in balance and smooth and really tasty imperial stout, goes into the category of must taste ones. One of the best bourbon BA stouts I have yet tasted. True quality. 4.25/5