Mondial de la Bière, circa 2019 - I was covering the event for the local newspaper not knowing it would be one of my final articles in print media, ever. Quebec has one of the most interesting beer scenes so I was there to see what was new, cool and what would be the new upcoming trends at the time (Hazy IPAs mainly). I had multiple people telling me their suggestions for the must visits for booths and beers and one beer came up time and time again - Les Trois Mousquetaires' Déjeuner Impérial, an Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon barrels for nine months and contains maple and cold brew coffee. At 11.5% ABV, any beer geek will love that, but of course in small doses!
Fast forward to the beginning of 2020 right before COVID closed down the planet, my buddy Jonny hosted his annual beer tasting event called Weathered Beer Celebration that was mostly Sours, Cantillon, high ABV beers, funky stuff and a few local IPAs to cleanse the palate. What beer did I go back to more than once? Déjeuner Impérial! It called my name, LTM does an amazing job at having their bottles pop out at you, I bet the way the bottles are labelled isn't a cheap process either.
Anywho, I picked this bottle up at Sobeys Liquor in Regina (shoutout to Joel!) not expecting it.. though it wasn't cheap BUT I've been trying to request special orders of this beer through the Manitoba Liquor Mart system since late 2020 with no luck.. so this will do.
Appearance: Pitch black Stout with a moderate amount of burnt caramel brownish head on top. The head diminishes gradually leaving behind absolutely no bubbles to be seen.. it almost looks like I'm looking at a flat cola.. but I know damn well this will not be flat!
Aroma: The booziness of the Stout tickles the nostrils - with notes of oak, vanilla, Bourbon. There's a rich coffee roastiness to it with almost a peat-like earthiness to it. The last thing I get is a light-to-moderate sweetness of maple syrup.
Taste: This is a bit aggressive to the palate - the booziness of the stout give off a bit of a burn, the coffee notes are a bit of a burnt/peat-like taste, there's notes of oak, caramel, a hint of vanilla and a slight maple taste at the end. The mouthfeel is fairly dry, while the aftertaste is very much a heavy dose of oak and burnt coffee that lingers for quite a while.
Overall Thought: I get a bit of booziness from every sip I take from this stout but I'm finding that the bottle I'm drinking (13-11-2024) is much more bitter/woody than what I remember from 5+ years ago. Am I complaining? No, of course not, it's a really good Imperial Stout but this is a time I kind of wish I had a friend or two to share this with, this stout will have me a bit tipsy by the end of the evening.
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