Black Cab Stout - Fullers

My first stout review.  This is a relatively new release (Feb 2012) and a welcome addition to the supermarket shelves, which just seem to stock Guinness or Murphy's most of the time.
This 500ml bottle comes in at a respectable 4.5%, and is poured into a stemmed tulip glass.

The appearance is an opaque black with a frothy toffee coloured head.  Good retention and lacing.

On the nose, there is strong roasted malt with coffee, dark chocolate, some mild nutmeg and hop aroma is also detectable

The taste up front gives you a dose of the roasted crystal and chocolate malts which give off bitter dark chocolate and burnt coffee.  This develops into a mildly nutty mid-palate, with some sweetness.  Finishes with the bitter coffee/chocolate linger, mixed with some mild hop bitterness and maybe a mild cherry note?  The hops do well to balance the strong malt onslaught at the front end, but the linger is a tad too astringent

Mouthfeel is smooth, velvety, medium bodied but a shade too astringent

This is a very good stout, but any more than 1 in a sitting would be too much.  The astringency is a disappointment, and there is not a great deal of complexity... but then again, it is a stout!
Would most definitely buy again though in the right circumstances
85% - Good