Beer Tasting - Black Damnation

Today was bottling day, but I didn't have any pry top bottles on hand. The Rhino, a local beer bar in Parkdale seemed like my best bet to pick up some bottles. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and do a beer tasting as I remember drinking a beer there on my birthday that was very complex. Black Damnation is a Russian Imperial Stout from De Struise Brouwers, located in Oostvleternwhich, Belgium. In 2008 the brewery was declared the best brewery in the world by the members of RateBeer. Struise is very small with an output of a mere 900 hectolitres per year and this particular beer is part of an experimental project where the brewery tries different blends and aging techniques.
 

I'll be following the five category format from beeradvocate.com: Appearance, Smell, Taste, Mouthfeel and Overall.  

Appearance: Pours pitch black, with a thick creamy head and has quite long retention.

Smell: Black currant, raisin and black licorice.

Taste: Black licorice and espresso notes are very heavy at the start, followed by dark fruit, raisin and a slight sourness. Can tell that the beer is heavily hopped as the sweetness is cut quickly and it finishes dry with a little residual sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Velvety smooth with a slight tingle from the effervescence. A creaminess to early sips from the thick head. Warmth comes from each sip due to the higher ABV.

Overall: This is a great beer. It's the kind of beer you want to sip by the fireside on a cold winter day. I don't think I could drink more than one as it's so full bodied and with an ABV of 13% I'd start seeing double pretty quickly. The Rhino has a great beer list, but struggles to keep a lot of their rarities in stock. I'm not sure if The Rhino's regular patrons just don't know about Black Damnation, but they have always had some on hand and that is enough to keep me coming back.

Thanks for reading!