Rating based on second tasting, 2009-05-08.

Pours clean amber-brown with ruby highlights and a small one-finger off-white head into a snifter.

Nose is smokey and woody with some dark fruit, vanilla and alcohol bite.

Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with medium carbonation. Slightly sticky and silky. Some dry alcohol burn lingers in the finish.

Taste is smokey and oaky with a bit of maple syrup sweetness in the front and and a mildly hop-bitter finish.

This is a sipper with some alcohol bite and a lot of robust smokey flavors to slow you down.

Overall this is a decent beer and worth a try. Not one of my favorites from DFH, but unique in its own right. I could see enjoying this more next to a fire on a cold winter's day than I am on this warm spring evening.