4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Sampled at EBF on Saturday afternoon.
Pours thick and black like motor oil with a creamy tan head that sticks around for a while before attaching to my -stache. Smells of coffee and chocolate mostly with bits of earthy hops in there that try in vain to balance the sweetness on this bad boy. The maple aroma is very subtle but there. I pick up little to no barrel aromas. Taste is sweet with tons of coffee chocolate and caramel malts with again faint maple and some earthy spicy hops trying to cut through the sweetness. Thick body with a sweet creamy silky smooth mouthfeel and a light level of carbonation. This is a great beer, but the maple seems very subtle. I remember having this a couple of years ago and thinking it was over mapled. If it didn’t cost my first born and require swapping spit with the beer store guy I’d add a few of these to my basement.
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 16/20
(Template) Tasted either at NotB or EBF. There’s no way I could have taken proper notes on all the great beer I tasted within those 24 hours so I will just let the Aroma,Appearance,Taste,Palate,Overall scores speak from themselves.
4.3 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bottle, 01/31/2012. Pours black, creamy tan head that fades to smooth surface slick, with fine, persistent lacing. Nose carries ground espresso, anise, dark chocolate with maple undertones, vanilla sweetness, and bourbon finish. Taste carries chocolate rich with vanilla, maple caramel body, dark coffee roast and licorice to balance the sweetness, bourbon finish with more booze and vanilla sweetness on the breath. Palate is thick and full, silky, flavors incredibly smooth and drinkable. Really quite good, to understate things, and brings back the memory of trying Bourbon County for the first time and what a moment that was.
4.4 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 19/20
UPDATED: JAN 31, 2012 Bottle; Pour is oily dark brown/black with a fine bubbled khaki head on the average side, with some mild lacing in this snifter. The nose on this one was ridiculous; bourbon, chocolate malts, maple syrup..... brown sugars.... licorice. Fuck yes... this is fantastic. The flavor profile morphs like perhaps no beer I’ve ever had. A different tasting note keeps cropping up through the temperature process. Here goes ; roast (coffee beans), cocoa, licorice, anise, smoke, maple syrup, dark chocolate, and brown sugar. Surprisingly.. it’s not as thick as I was expecting... drinkable as hell with that said. Wow.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bonus bottle from fear025. Opened this bad boy at my beer tasting. Poured black and dark with small brown head. Aroma was super fresh roast coffee grinds with a subtle sweetness. Taste was also lots of coffee, mild dark chocolate, and some very faint maple sugar. Great brew for sure. Thanks Jay!
4.4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20
2011 vintage. Pours opaque black with a nice brown head. Smell: coffee, chocolate, whiskey, licorice, leather, tobacco and a slight maple note coming through. Taste: Coffee, chocolate, vanilla, sweetness from the maple, bourbon and tobacco. Thick on the palate. This finishes with a strong coffee and a nice balance of chocolate and maple syrup.
4.4 AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Black, no head. Sweet nose of chocolate and roasty malt. Sticky, thick, and syrupy. Sweetness is evident, but maple doesn’t jump out. Good carbonation. For me, this one doesn’t match the hype. Very good beer, but somewhat cloying.
4.4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20
Location: 22 oz bottle from Norm’s (via dbarnold and jcos!), 1/22/12
Aroma: The nose is heavy on bourbon, chocolate, sweet malts, vanilla, molasses, roast, and some maple
Appearance: Pours a dark brown-black color with a creamy, chocolate milk looking head and spotty lace
Flavor: A rather complex flavor, lots of richness, some sweetness to the malts, chocolate, vanilla, maple, and coffee, balanced by a dark chocolate and black coffee bitterness, and rounded out by a good amount of bourbon
Palate: The body is rich and creamy, and it is quite full on the mouth, but somehow still smooth and drinkable
Overall Impression:
Big Ups to Dave and Justin for sending this one my way! Enjoying this CBS while I watch "The NFL on CBS" (imagine that being said in Jim Nantz’s voice). As for the beer, this one is real good. That’s the simplest overall impression ever, so maybe I could expand a bit... When I go a little deeper then really good, I think first of the complex and well balanced combination of rich flavors that make up this beer. Though there are quite a few components, nothing seems out of place or out of balance. They all work rather well together. I next focus on the drinkability. It is almost too high, as I shouldn’t be it is a little scary anytime an over 10% beer is this drinkable. Sure, there is a little bit of heat, but it isn’t where you might expect it from something of this gravity. After a plethora of words, it all boils down to the fact that this is just a damn good beer, plain and simple.
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