Ellen and Arthur

I hadn't planned on being back in Open Gate quite so soon, but the offer of a new imperial stout was enough to tempt me in. And I found out about it because they've finally got round to updating their online menu. Hooray and ker-ching!

It helped also that the beer is Islay-cask-aged, having been created to celebrate the, er, 201st anniversary of Diageo's distillery at Port Ellen. They've called it The 200, for the sake of neatness. It's a dense black colour with a fine crema on top. The aroma is light on peat but includes lots of toasty roast, suggesting a serious and grown-up taste to come.

So the rather sweet flavour was a surprise. I got an odd but fun mix of dark chocolate with summer fruit -- raspberry and cherry. There's a kind of truffle or praline quality to it; hella classy. The smoke is there, but easy to miss if you aren't looking for it, manifesting as a lightly salty, iodine-laced seaside savouriness. That gives it even more the manner of something shiny and expensive from an especially creative high-end chocolatier.

At a mere 9% ABV and served ice cold, it misses the weighty and satisfying character of big imperial stout. It's pretty good as a lightweight, though. I'll take a quality gimmick-free imperial stout whenever it comes my way.