“Creamy espresso and lush Madagascar Vanilla add to the robust chocolate and coffee flavors Speedway fans already know and love and that classic 12% Imperial Stout punch will have you feeling juuuust right.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: As black as midnight with a thumb of dark brown head emerging on top. It gradually recedes and leaves a cascading lace down the walls of the glass.

Aroma: The overall balance is exceptional. The olfactories are inundated with everything from rich molasses and licorice to fresh vanilla and cinnamon-esque spices. Then it’s layered with heady dark and jammy fruits, sweet espresso, cocoa, dark chocolate, treacle/toffee and even a touch of grassy/herbal hops. We can pick up a slight hit of booze but it’s excusable considering its weight (12%).

Flavour: Doing all the right things early in the piece. Although it comes on with a rather fierce booze burn it’s backed up by a swathe of dark chocolate, espresso, vanilla, rich dark fruits, earthy hops and heavily charred malt. The chocolate and cocoa side of it really intensifies midway…hitting a rich saucy note that softens the espresso. Nice roasty and bittersweet finish which goes the distance.

Mouthfeel: Thick and muscly. Slightly lifted Co2 for an Impy Stout. Big and somewhat abrasive 12% ABV. Again, acceptable considering its size.

Overall: We know this is gonna sound super critical but it just didn’t land the knockout blow for us. It’s a superb drop nonetheless, we’ve probably got our expectations set too high from just coming off that Hot Buttered Rum by Oskar Blues recently. Solid but not overly memorable.