Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

355 ml bottle, kindly shared by gunnar. ABV 10.5%. Pitch black colour, low head. Strong and intense aroma of heavily roasted malts, cigar box, burnt caramel and oak. Equally strong and intense flavour, again heavily roasted malts, burnt caramel and oak. Pretty impressive stuff.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Bottle, as Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout, kindly shared by gunnar. ABV 9.5%. Pitch black colour, brown head. Lovely aroma of heavily roasted malts, cigar box and leather. Intense roasty flavour with notes of strong coffee, dark bitter chocolate and English liquorice. Brilliant stuff!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Bottle, kindly shared by gunnar. ABV 10.5%. Pitch black colour, moderate to low tan head. Nice aroma of dark malts and chocolate. Fine roasty flavour, notes of strong coffee and dark bitter chocolate.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Bottle, kindly shared by gunnar. ABV 11.2%. Black colour, big to moderate tan head. Oaky and vinous aroma, also notes of dark malts, leather, chocolate and coffee. The flavour has overall the same elements as the aroma. Excellent beer!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Green-waxed bottle, kindly shared by my beerpal Ivar. ABV 12.5%. Black colour, moderate brown head. Oaky and roasty aroma, hints of fusel alcohols and leather. Roasty flavour, notes of oak (whisky cask).

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 10.4%. Pitch black colour, big brown head. Nice aroma of roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate and vanilla. The flavour has loads of roasted malts, notes of strong coffee, dark bitter chocolate and vanilla, bitter hops in the finish. Good stuff!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

180 ml red-waxed capped green bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Bordeaux barrel aged. Bottle No. 484 out of a batch of 600 bottles. Brewed 31. March 2010, bottled 21. Sept. 2010. O.G. 1105, F.G. 1027. ABV 13%. 99.9 EBU. Bittering hops Premiant, final hops Saaz. Pitch black colour, very low and coarse tan head. Strong and intense aroma with roasty notes, also notes of sweetened strong coffee, chocolate, oak and claret. Minimal carbonation in the glass. Rich flavour, loads of malty sweetness and strong roasty notes, also strong oaky notes with just a hint of claret. Will probably benefit from a few years’ cellaring. Declared good for 25 years if stored cool and dark. Recommended serving temperature 15 degrees C.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

180 ml black-waxed capped green bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Bruichladdich barrel from 1972. ABV is 9.5%. Bottle No. 364 out of a batch of 1776 bottles. Brewed 3. Dec. 2009, bottled 7. June 2010. Bittering hop Nugget, final hop Amarillo, 96.9 EBU. OG 1100, FG 1030. The beer starts gushing out of the bottle shortly after opening. Pitch black colour, huge to big tan head. Strong aroma of peated whisky, tar, old rope and salty seas, also strong roasty notes. The flavour is roasty with a certain malty sweetness, dominated by peat smoke, oak and tar, the high bitterness feels kind of subdued. A pretty impressive beer in my book, but not the right choice if you hate Islay whisky.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

500 ml bottle, batch 22, from Voldby Købmandsgård. ABV is 8.0%. Pitch black colour, big to moderate tan head. Moderate but nice aroma of roasted malts, notes of coffee, hints of liquorice and smoke. Full and rich mouthfeel. The flavour is fairly sweet and malty, roasty notes of course, some caramel, tar, coffee, dark chocolate, liquorice and smoke again - but not quite as much peat smoke as expected, and that’s quite alright with me. A lovely drop!

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Corked bottle, at "Onsdag i Annen", Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 11%. Pitch black colour, moderate to low tan head. Intense sweetish malty aroma, vinous and roasty notes, oak, caramel, coffee and chocolate. Rich mouthfeel. The flavour has much the same elements as the aroma. Sweeter and less intense bitterness than in some other imperial stouts. A real treat!

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

500 ml bottle, from Voldby Købmandsgård. Batch #150. ABV is 10.01%. Pitch black colour, impressive brown head. Lovely aroma of hops, heavily roasted malts, coffee and dark chocolate, hints of vanilla. The flavour has an intense bitterness from start to finish, both from the hops and the roasted malts - too much hoppy bitterness for mye taste, as it overshades the finer tones of 8 different malts. Also burnt notes, and notes of too strong coffee. Not enough sweetness to balance the bitterness. Ashy aftertaste.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 10.4%. Pitch black colour, large brown head. Strong aroma of roasted barley, notes of coffee, hints of ashes and woodwork, a touch of smoke. Rich mouthfeel. Medium sweet flavour with strong roasty notes, coffee and dark bitter chocolate. Bitter and dry finish, roasty aftertaste. Excellent beer.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

375 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 17.5%. Pitch black colour, large brown head. Very malty and sweetish aroma, roasty, strong notes of whisky, vanilla and oak. Intense roasty and very sweet flavour, notes of strong coffee, whisky and vanilla. Alcohol burn throughout. Too much of the good stuff.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

375 ml green bottle (black foil top), courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 17.5%. Pitch black colour, low brown head. Intense aroma of fusel alcohols, roasted barley, sweetish malts, molasses and oak. Extremely sweet and roasty flavour, notes of oak / cognac barrels. Far out on the weird side, but GOOD - in a perverted way.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

375 ml green bottle (no blue wax, but clearly labeled Islay Edition), courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 17.5%. Pitch black colour, minimal brown head. Strong aroma of smoke, tar, salt water, iodine and roasted barley. Extremely sweet and roasty flavour with notes of peat smoke and molasses. Too extreme for me.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

375 ml green bottle (corked and wired), red foil top / partly red label, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 13.1%. Pitch black colour, low brown head. Lovely roasty, oaky and vinous aroma, also hints of leather and cigarbox. Very roasty flavour (a distinct roasty and hoppy bitterness throughout), medium sweet with distinct oaky notes.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

On tap at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Pitch black colour, low brown head. Lovely aroma of oak, roasted malts, dark chocolate and coffee, hints of leather. Roasty flavour, dark malts, coffee, oak, hints of chocolate and liquorice. Nice bitterness in the finish.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

180 ml bottle with green waxed top, kindly shared by my beerpal Ivar. ABV is 12%. Pitch black colour, no head, minimal carbonation. Lovely complex aroma, oak, roasted malts, molasses, bourbon and coffee, a touch of fusel alcohols keeps me from giving it a full score. Warming mouthfeel. Oaky flavour with roasty, bourbon and vinous notes, complex and excellent.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

750 ml corked and wired bottle, kindly shared by abemorsten. ABV is 10%. Dark ruby colour, huge tan head. The aroma has strong notes of coffee and ashes. The flavour has notes of coffee, roasted barley and ashes. Fairly dry.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

330 ml stubby bottle, bought at Voldby Købmandsgård, Denmark. ABV is 10%. Dark brown colour, but far from black. Big beige head. Very malty aroma with notes of brown bread and caramel, only mild roasty notes. The flavour is also malty and medium sweet with caramel and just some mild roasty notes, bitter hops in the finish and aftertaste. Alcohol is noticeable but not disturbing. Probably the weirdest "imperial stout" I’ve had, but if you disregard the anticipations created by the style name, the beer is decent enough to drink. A new style perhaps? - "Imperial Belgian Brown Ale"?

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

On tap at Nærbø Beer Festival and a private tasting at Cardinal. Can’t find my original notes of this beer, but I remember it as a very special combination of the roastiness of NØ Imperial Stout (of which I am a big fan) and the sourness of Flanders red (or even lambic). A fun experiment, but I’ll admit I would prefer the original Imperial Stout on a daily basis.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

500 ml bottle, from Voldby Købmandsgård. ABV is 10%. Pitch black colour, impressive brown head. The aroma has strong notes of peat smoked and birch smoked malts (which indeed are essential ingredients in this beer), also notes of tar, old rope and coffee, hints of dark chocolate. The flavour has loads of smoke, tar and sweet malts, caramel, roasted notes with coffee and dark bitter chocolate. Roasty and hoppy bitterness in the aftertaste. A solid imperial stout.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

500 ml bottle, from Voldby Købmandsgård. ABV is 8.9%. Ingredients include 6 kinds of barley malts, roasted barley, 3 kinds of hops, demerara sugar, black syrup and raisin syrup (+ water and yeast, of course). Pitch black colour, huge brown head. Roasty and somewhat sweetish aroma, notes of dark malts, syrup, bakery, coffee and chocolate, hints of liquorice. Sweet and roasty flavour, notes of strong coffee, dark and pale malts (with a good deal of residual sugar) and dark syrup, with a distinct hoppy and roasty bitterness in the aftertaste, hints of English liquorice. Regard it as an atheist product or as a gift of God - this is under any circumstance a mighty powerful beer!

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

500 ml bottle, from Voldby Købmandsgård. ABV is 10.5%. Black colour, big to moderate brown head. Lovely roasty aroma, notes of roasted barley, coffee and dark chocolate, hints of dark syrup and liquorice. The flavour is intensely sweet and roasty, strong notes of dark syrup and brown sugar, dark malts, coffee, raisins and dark chocolate. Warming mouthfeel. Moderately bitter aftertaste. Good, but a bit too far out on the sweet and syrupy side to get a full score.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

500 ml bottle, from Voldby Købmandsgård. Batch #427. ABV is 11.5%. Pitch black colour, huge chocolate brown head. Strong roasty aroma with notes of coffee and tar, also notes of peaty smoke (from the whisky barrel, obviously - and the smoked malts), hints of sea water, dark dried fruits and oak, some vinous notes too. The flavour is extremely intense, loads of tar, very strong coffee, oak and smoke. The honey is barely noticeable. Quite bitter, with an ashy finish. Not for the faint of heart.