Black Oak Bourbon Barreled 2005 Nutcracker Porter

Formerly brewed at Black Oak Brewing
Style: Porter
Etobicoke, Canada

Cask, Nov. 07. I tried this as part of the Volo ’Nutcracker Suite.’ This was the star of the night. The aroma of this is wonderful, reminds me of a complex spirit: vanilla, raisin, with herbal hints, bourbon. Medium to light mouthfeel. Flavour has vanilla, chocolate, bourbon. Little to no cinnamon on my radar.

Cask at Volo Cask Days 2007: I made a beeline right for it as a fan of Black Oak’s Nutcracker in the past, and salivating over it on cask. Poured dark brown, no head at all. The oaky bourbon was definitely there in the aroma, as well as some chocolate, vanilla, and aromatic hops. The mouthfeel was far more watery than I’d have hoped for, delivering a good burst of bourbon, espresso, and cinnamon. Almost nothing like the "regular" Nutcracker; good stuff, but I would have appreciated some more body to it.

[767-20071020] Cask @ Volo Cask Days 2007 (Toronto, ON). Vanilla whiskey fruit aroma with dark malt and sweet maple hints. Red black body with quick tan bubbles. Light whiskey malt flavour has a roasted coffee cinnamon finish. Medium-full body is smooth. Smooth and Lovely.

Cask. Black cola body with no head. The aroma is smooth and bourbony, oak chips, chocolate, and vanilla. Flavour is dominated by vanilla and bourbon, not intensely rich and full bodied. Actually somewhat thin for what you’d normally see in a bourbon barrel beer. It’s drinkable but I don’t care for it a whole lot. I’d take any of the other Nutcracker versions over this!
Sampled at the Nutcracker Suite tasting on November 23, 2007.

Enjoyed at Volo as part of the nutcracker suite tasting. Same appearance as the regular nutcracker, but with less of a head. Yep...that’s definitely jim beam in the aroma - very different from the candy cane smell of the regular. The bourbon is well integrated into the flavour, and although t does not dominate it is always there. Other notes include chocolate and rasins. A bit thin on the palate, but it seems to match this beer well. Overall, I would not get a whole pint of this, but would be happy to sip away on a glass.

Muddy brown in colour, thin beige coloured head ring, no lacing. The aroma is dominated by the bourbon, very sweet with some lingering chalky dark chocolate. The flavour is very thin, watery, the bourbon is non-existent. Thin mouthfeel, light body, mild carbonation. Finishes thin, quick and watery. The barrel aging didn’t do anything to this except for helping out the aroma. Very thin which was a bit of a surprise.

Cask at <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? target=blank>Volo in Toronto, Ontario on October 20, 2007.

On cask at Volo , Canada
Appearance :Black with dark brown hint , beige medium crown (rocky) 3+
Nose : Dark brown malts , grainy with medium strong influence of bourbon casking , hint of chocolate marked 7-
Flavour/Palate : Mellow , soft choco-mocha base with bourbon character painted trough. Slightly chewy in texture .Vanilla like finish. Good.

Cask at Volo Cask Days 2007. Deep almost-but-not-quite black with a wisp of a head. Aroma has a helluva lot of bourbon and vanilla - very pleasant, but also worrying, as it suggested the flavour would be completely overpowered by the bourbon. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case - there was a good amount of it there, but it was nicely integrated with the beer, which held notes of chocolate, dark fruitcake and vanilla. I would’ve preferred a bit more body, but otherwise, I quite enjoyed it.