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The beer I tried in 2017 that was sold under the same name had a very different look to its label, a different ABV, and it appears the 2025 vintage has a few other things up its sleeve (like cinnamon). There was vanilla that I tasted in the last one, but I don't think I remember 9 years ago as well as you might expect, so I'll not be actively comparing the two of these from here on.
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Bottom Line: Nine years later, and one or more of us are better at this.
The brown-to-black beer has a minimal, tight head of tan bubbles that stick around pretty well. The aroma doesn't suggest the cinnamon that the label does, but chocolate, coffee (don't worry, it smells light), and vanilla are waiting on top of earth. This smells quite good even before the heft of liquor enters the picture, but believe me it does.
First sip is what seems like a thick, malty mass of bourbon-laced stout at first, but the chocolate is undeniable as raw cocoa hits with vanilla in the middle and doesn't let go at all. I wish I could say I taste the cinnamon, as that would really start turning this into a nice Winter Warmer, but I don't. It's still a damn good sip, and it's a far cry from the 2.0/5 that the last one got (damn, sorry, I forgot I wasn't going to compare them).
Tip-in is thick roasted malt with liquor highlights and dark chocolate on the horizon. The middle swings in with vanilla, the formerly missing cinnamon, earth, cocoa, and alcohol. The finish turns bitter as the sweetness that wasn't there evaporates to leave a cocoa-vanilla-alcohol trail off.
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Bottom Line: Nine years later, and one or more of us are better at this.
4.0/5
