Review: Garrison Brewing Wintervention Chocolate Imperial Stout

I'm writing this well into summer 2022 when I was supposed to originally review it back around Xmas last year, what took so long to review it? COVID and busy with work and other reviews. Today's sampling is Wintervention Chocolate Imperial Stout by Garrison Brewing out of Nova Scotia.

From the label: It's cold, dark & the holidays are over... Time for a Wintervention! Fight back with this Imperial Stout conditioned a full month on cocoa nibs. 9.0% ABV

Appearance: Pours your typical black-as-the-night in body with a heavy burnt caramel head to it. The head was racing on up so I was scared it would gush over the glass, but thankfully it didn't. The head settles quickly to leave behind a nice sprinkling of foam on the glass, almost like a light snow fall.

Aroma: Chocolate Imperial Stout is a bang-on choice of words for this beer. Chocolate/cocoa nibs are the first thing I get from this beer, followed by a light roasted presence from the malt to give it a hint of coffee-like notes, a hint of woodiness, somewhat milky and a slightly papery scent at the end. Pretty straight forward, and at 9% it's quite smooooooth to the nose.

Taste: Up front, it gives off a bit of a burnt malt presence to it to give off a coffee-like flavour to it, there's notes of toffee, lots of chocolate, a bit of creaminess,  a hint of peat and an aftertaste of peat mixed with caramel. Roasty but not too much.

Overall Thoughts: This is 9%? Way too smooth but I'll probably start feeling it soon. I hope the MLCC brings this back in three or four months from now, it's one of the better imports MLCC has brought in lately.. but Garrison is legendary and I can honestly say that I've personally enjoyed their beers for well over a decade, back when the craft beer scene here was pretty much MLCC bringing out a random beer from out of province.. and boy, did they bring in some interesting brews for once.. (I miss you Unibroue 17).

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