Black Raven Splinters

Brewed by Black Raven Brewing
Style: Scotch Ale
Redmond, Washington USA

Serve in Thistle

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At the brewery. The bourbon was nice both in aroma and taste. No peated malt in this scotch. Body could have been a little bit heavier.

Whatever problems may have occurred with the initial batch seems to have been solved in the latest incarnation. Full body, light carbonation. Aroma of vanilla, bourbon, figs, brown sugar. Tons of flavor, much like the aroma. This is a pretty great little sipper.

Pours a light reddish brown. Tastes of nothing but bourbon, which completely overwhelms the beer.

Draft at WA Brewer’s fest. Pours a dark brown with a small beige head. Lots of bourbon on the nose and caramelly breadiness. The bready, caramel, fig, and raisin flavors of the base beer are loaded with a lot of vanilla and bourbon. I found this pretty enjoyable despite being rather over the top with the bourbon.

Tap at the brewery.

One of two bourbon-aged Second Sights I tried that night, this was by far the lesser, basically because it was way over the top on the bourbon. Sweet vanilla syrup nose. Too sweet, too bourbony. This is bourbon gimmick beer at its worse, though that said I confess that I do love bourbon and so this isn’t all bad. It’s actually kind of yummy. The only complaint is that isn’t really beer any more than wine cooler is wine.

Draft at brew pub. Pours a clear mahogany amber with a uniform small khaki head that is very tightly carbonated. Prune, figgy-apple, brown sugar, toffee, light vanilla, juicy raisin. Smooth even yet subtle carbonation but the mouth feel is a bit thin. Fig infused brown sugar cola, light vanilla, apple and caramel notes. Barrel is very subtle and in my opinion has aided the base beer. However, I would prefer more malt body.