“Dark and Stormy emerges from the confluence point of two brewing seas. One beer surges from the south with smooth molasses and exotic spices in Caribbean rum barrels, while the other blows in from the north with bright ginger and Turbinado sugar. These two brews crash together to form the perfect balance of dark and stormy.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: Kind of a light chestnut brown affair. It caps off with a loosely held finger of tan foam which settles at the rim. Thick and foamy lace sticks to the glass as we hook in.

Aroma: The trusty dark & stormy was an old favourite of one of ours back in our hey day. The best thing about it was that all you needed was a bottle of rum and a couple of bottles of ginger beer! So naturally this takes me back with its distinct ginger and subtle spicy rum characters. Certainly picking up the rich and sweet molasses along with more delicate notes of coconut, palm sugar and angostura bitters.

Flavour: Wow it’s very close to an actual dark & stormy. The ginger and rum are obviously front and center with intermittent angostura bitters, zesty lime and subtle vanilla and coconut. All underpinned by this rich and chewy molasses. The finish is tangy, spicy and unsurprisingly dominated by ginger and bitters.

Mouthfeel: Dry and almost tart at times. The body is a little too thin and seems to slide off the tongue too easily. The upside is the 10.5% AbV is well hidden.

Overall: What started so well somehow slipped away. The aroma is excellent but the flavour became a little too much by the end. It’s a really fun beer but it’s better as a cocktail in our opinion.