Jamaica Stout is a strong Foreign-Style Stout brewed in Kingston, Jamaica (naturally enough) by Big City Brewing, though you won’t find it on their current site—either it’s too new or it’s brewed for exclusive export to the U.S. (It came in my Beer of the Month package several months back.)

The bottle says it’s 7.6% alcohol by volume, but the beer review sites both say 8%.

Appearance: Brown-black with cola highlights. Tan head that broke down quick.

Smell: Sweet and roasty, kind of a coffee thing going on. A hint of astringnent bitter, maybe leather.

Taste: Big roasted malt component at first, followed by a sweet and thick note kind of like molasses. There’s a dry, almost charcoal character that almost tastes like it’s been on wood.

Mouthfeel: Medium-to-not-quite-full-bodied. Dry finish, and a touch of a pucker from astringency.

Overall: Enjoyable stout, the best Jamaican beer I’ve had. (Which of course is irony.)

On BeerAdvocate, of 8 reviews is scores an overall grade of B+. On RateBeer, it scores 3.23 out of 5 and is in their 61st percentile.