“This stout is rich, toasty and roasty with an indulgent twist of cinnamon and caramel sweetness thanks to the addition of 250 freshly baked caramelised croissants to the boil from our good mates, and the best bakers we know, Black Cockatoo Bakery.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: Impenetrable black with a finger of brown foam emerging on top. It steadily retreats to the rim with fair lacing in its wake.

Aroma: From the first whiff something seems a little off. Getting subtle yet undesirable hints of nail polish/solvent at the moment. Ok we gave it 10 mins to settle and we’re still gettng it. We can pick up some form of spice (cinnamon, nutmeg) along with charred malt and ink but it’s just so boozy, astringent and solvent-like. Dammit!

Flavour: Slightly better than the aroma. The astringent booze and solvent have softened a little and is replaced with a sweet spice-driven roast, strange yeast esters and burnt toffee. Unfortunately those faults still hang around though. They come back but are fought off by a sweet milky coffee note, lightly charred malt and dark chocolate.

Mouthfeel: Full and creamy before the big burn sets in…most likely down to the 10.5% ABV. Low-ish Co2. Mmmmeh!

Overall: It appears MC are human after all. Tell ya what they had a bloody good run but it ends here.. this is just messy AF! Almost tasted like a RIS at times. Not that that’s bad but it’s not the sweet dessert stout we had anticipated.