A bottle of Old Rasputin from North Coast Brewing Company in Fort Bragg, California.

This beer is a 9% ABV Russian Imperial Stout, named after the Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin who bewitched the last Tsaritsa a century ago. Now, North Coast is trying to bewitch us with this potent brew.

The beer poured pitch black, tar-like, into the glass with a large, foamy brown head. The smell was intense of burnt coffee beans, sweet toffee and licorice. Mouthfeel is oily, thick and very smooth. The flavor is a bombshell of different tastes; strong coffee is balanced by caramel sweetness, an undercurrent of bitter hops can be felt too and then the licorice and chocolate kicks in and lingers in the long aftertaste. Wow!