“Our Ballast Point Victory at Sea Imperial Porter is a bold, smooth brew with just the right amount of sweetness. We infused this robust porter with vanilla and San Diego’s own Caffe Calabria coffee beans. The subtle roasted notes and minimal acidity of the cold brewed coffee, balances perfectly with the sweet caramel undertones of the malt, creating a winning combination for your palate.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: Impenetrable black complexion and a short brown head resting atop. Decent retention and some wavy lace here and there.

Aroma: We think we’ve left the best until last. All the other releases thus far haven’t had anywhere near as much upfront impression as this. Straight away the olfactory’s are in a scramble trying to work out the dominant scent. It’s just chock-full of Bourbon barrel goodness, coffee, vanilla, brown sugar, milk chocolate, coconut, marshmallow and pine forest. Yum!

Flavour: Good follow through. Pretty harsh upfront though…a slight bitterness coupled with every bit of that 12% ABV is eventually (and thankfully) smothered by the Bourbon/barrels, coffee, vanilla/coconut and milk chocolate. A soft return of the bitterness and roasty-ness through the mid fortunately leads to a delicious finish of bittersweet coffee, chocolate, delicate Bourbon and charred malts.

Mouthfeel: Surprisingly light for the style. It’s oily, a tad thin and the Co2 is a little higher than we’d like. The 12% ABV, again, shows through a bit too much.

Overall: Talk about a tale of two sides. The aroma was next level but the flavour and mouthfeel weren’t really up to scratch. Seems this series followed a pattern of strong aromas and weaker flavour profiles. We’re kinda on the fence with all of them to be honest.