Brasserie McAuslan St-Ambroise Stout Impériale Russe Special Reserve (2016) – Russian Imperial Stout at 9.2% ABV | 84 IBU (C$6.01 at NLC Stavanger, 341 ml, packaged on 12-Oct-2016, acquired 22-Nov-2016, reviewed 18-Jun-2020)
Appearance: opaque unrelieved black with one finger of creamy beige head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: toasty malt, boozy dark fruit, chocolate, marshmallow, leather and tobacco, oak, bourbon, vanilla, coconut. (9/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, high bitter. (8/10) Medium-full slightly viscous body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter and warming finish verging on astringent. (4/5)
The Great Cellar Drink Down continues. What? I’m in quarantine in a (supposedly) sold house, so I can’t get anything fresh, and who knows how long my collection will go into a storage unit after we pack up here and find a new house – could be months, easily, subjected to wild temperature variations. No, better it end here, with dignity: cue the swelling orchestra.
The third one in the deepest vertical I’ve ever attempted, and indeed the deepest vertical I’m ever likely to attempt: a nearly-complete run, newest to oldest, of 2018 to 2012 vintages, missing only the 2015. I did a baseline on a brand-new bottle of this a few years ago, and at the time noted definite alcohol heat and slight astringent thinning in the finish, both of which I hoped would mellow with age.
The first in this vertical (the 2018) was nearly two years old, which I felt marked a reasonable start to truly cellared vintages. It exhibited a slightly tempered alcohol presence as compared to the baseline fresh, though still had a slight but definite astringent edge. The second (the 2017) appeared to have improved slightly in both regards, with a smoother warming and a less pronounced astringency, as well as a previously unobserved hint of coconut. This one, at nearly four years old, is definitely continuing the trend of smoothing out, though the coconut is now less noticeable. This is just enough better to warrant a small increase in score, but we’ll see whether that trend continues as we progress further into the past with the next vintage. (17/20)
8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
