Beer Review: Brandy Barrel Aged Dark Lord With Vanilla Beans (2011)

Reviewing the Brandy Barrel Aged Dark Lord With Vanilla Beans from Three Floyds Brewing Company out of Munster, Indiana. This is one of the most sought after beers in the craft beer world, so I have to give a major thanks to Robbie Moy for cracking this one open and sharing it with me. This beer was only released once, and only to those who were lucky enough to have a winning scratch-off ticket at Dark Lord Day in 2011. This is the 2010 vintage of Dark Lord, aged for one year in brandy barrels with Madagascar vanilla beans added. Only 433 bottles of this were released. We cracked this one, in addition to several other big name goodies, to celebrate the end of the Illinois bar exam, my birthday, and Robbie Moy's birthday.
Score: 99

Bottle number 332/433 (2011 vintage). Served in a wine chalice and enjoyed on 07/28/12. Review is from notes.

Appearance: Jet black, with a thin brown highlight strip atop the glass when held up to light. A think layer of creamy melted milk chocolate colored head at pour settles to a pencil thin ring around the glass. The lacing is incredibly oily and it coats the side of the glass, slowly oozing back down. 4.5/5

Smell: Sweet vanilla, fudge, milk chocolate and a hint of alcohol heat. Then brandy and more fudge. Complex, balanced and chocolatey. Sweet on the nose, but not nearly as sweet as the base beer. Mild molasses in the nose too. 5/5

Taste: Sweet and creamy Edy's vanilla bean ice cream and brandy layered on top of molasses and fudgey milk chocolate. Decadent flavors coat the tongue in rich, lingering goodness. Molasses and raisin too. Definitely a sweet stout (but not cloying), though this one is a little less sweet than the 2011 bourbon vanilla dark lord was. There is a nice alcohol warmth to the finish without any real "booziness" that gives this one some "life after death" on the tongue.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, low carbonation. Viscous, sweet and "sticky" mouthfeel. 5/5

Overall: One of the best beers out there with a reputation for the same for a good reason. This beer is definitely one of the sweeter stouts out there, but it never crosses the line into the land of cloyingly sweet. I found the base beer and others like Lindley Park to be much sweeter. This is not a beer I could load up my cellar with at its retail price tag, even if I had the chance to buy multiples, and it's even harder to get through trade, but this is a must-try beer to hunt down and split with friends.

Recommendation: Seek a bottle of this beer out. It is just as good as everyone says.

Pairings: Vanilla custard.

Cost: $50 for a 750 ml bottle.