The smell is sweet and fruity, reminiscent of plums and raisins. I feel like there's also a bit of alcohol in the smell, which I found a bit surprising considering that it's only 6.2% ABV. There's also a roasty, syrup, and licorice smell underneath.
The beer poured a fully black color. It's got a deep tan head that initially was a half finger thick, but dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass with a light dusting on the top of the beer. There's tiny bits of lacing on the glass.
The taste initially is a bit sweet and fruity in an interesting way. It's got a hint of banana, but with some taste of a darker fruit mixed in. It's also quite roasty on the front of the tongue, but once it hits the back of the mouth it tastes strongly of coffee and dark chocolate. It's got a lingering bitterness for minutes right on the back of the tongue. And suddenly I want some crackers and cheese. Mmm... smoked gouda and ritz crackers.
It's got a somewhat unusual feel in the mouth. It's very highly carbonated, actually overwhelmingly so. It's got a lighter body too, which is strange for such a dark beer. There's a little coating on the mouth, and a bit of warmth in the throat.
Overall, I'm not sure what to think. Stylistically it's all over the place, but I don't really care about that. It's got a good balance of flavors, nothing stands out too much except maybe the coffee flavors. However I'm not sure about the mix of flavors, and there's a little bit of a medicinal quality to it. I enjoyed it, but not as much as almost any Belgian Strong Dark I've had before. So, it's ok, not great, not terrible.
