Evil Twin - Ashtray Heart

If you pop the cap, have a sniff, have a taste and don't instantly react in either shock or surprise then you are not drinking an Evil Twin beer. Ashtray heart is the definition of an Evil Twin beer, it is big, bold and brutal, it's a smoked imperial stout that smells like cigars, burnt sugar and Islay single malt whiskies. The beast swirls like a conger eel and pours like runny cake mix, this is truly a beer born of a fevered imagination and a thirst for the peculiar. I've never had a smoked stout before but now I never want to drink anything else... I obviously will but the smoky elements mix in with the smooth body and the high alcohol content to do exactly what it says on the label, it gives you a warm sense of well being whilst leaving a beautiful tobacco and coffee taste on your palate.

You know what I love about this beer? Apart from the taste, texture, smell and alcohol content? I love that on the bottle it says that this should only be consumed by "heavyweight beer champions" saying that it "makes invalids of supermen." I'm not sure who is on their marketing department but I want to kiss their ruddy face for having the fortitude to plaster something potentially off putting but brutally honest on a beer that they wish to sell... To the public... For money. There's something about the Mikkeller brothers that it is hard to resist, they don't care who you are or what you like because this beer isn't about YOU, it's about the art, it's about making something that THEY want to make. Mikkeller seem to enjoy subtlety more than Evil Twin, who rather enjoy trying to blast your face off your skull with ALCOBOOZE! The last Evil Twin I had was their Christmas special from a couple of years ago, which got me drunk by the half pint point.

I've noticed that Ashtray Heart is produced and bottled at Brouwerij De Molen, a brewery that are the closest I can think of in spirit to Evil Twin. What a delicious coincidence.

So, should you buy Ashtray Heart? Well, at £6 for a small bottle you're paying top end beer prices... But you're getting TOP END BEER that challenges you and taunts you before eventually bowling you over. If your idea of top end beer is Guinness then you should probably steer clear of this... And of living in the big bad world... I should probably add that this tastes SUPER BAD FOR YOU. Don't drink this if you're a bit wafty like that, or have ever considered eating a salad.

This, on top of a million or so other barn stormers, was obtained from the good people at The Bottle Shop in Canterbury. They've bought out their own brand glasses, does someone want to buy me a branded pint glass for Christmas... Or my birthday... Or because they just want to?

Food suggestion: Food?! No! Cigars! Big, fat, Cuban, cigars like a freakin' dictator. Castro would be so proud!

Drink this if you like: Anything else by Evil Twin or high strength stouts like Rasputin by De Molen or Big Mofo Stout by Brodie's.