Nice aroma of dark chocolate along with coffee and vanilla from the pour.
Vanilla Shake pours pitch black with a thick creamy milk chocolate brown head. Very intense flavours in the intake of dark chocolate, malt, strong roasted coffee, dark berries and a subtle sweet vanilla which ends in a mildly bitter finish with warming alcohol. Roasted coffee and dark chocolate are most prominent at the start of the aftertaste then the vanilla creeps in and rounds it off. Very rich mouthfeel to this, almost chewy.
I was surprised by how subtle the vanilla was in this. I was expecting more but it blends in well with the other flavours so no single flavour is dominant. Yet another cracking beer ! Definitely one I would happily sip to while watching repeats of top gear for the 5th time on a sunday night. My only gripe would be I think there is too much alcohol though it is well hidden and certainly hits the spot with me. Another one bottle only, reserved for a special occasion or a treat for myself.
This scored 9.5/10 on the 'damn, now that would make a great nightcap' Beerometer.