4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bottle courtesy of gillard. Pours a murky dark brown to black with one finger tan head that settles slowly. Aroma is sweet and malty with notes of chocolate, wood, bourbon, vanilla, ripe dark fruit, brown sugar. Flavor is sweet and malty with notes of chocolate, caramel, ripe dark fruit, malty goodness. Generally medium body with a pleasing malty finish.
4.6 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20
UPDATED: APR 25, 2010 Gillard shared the 08 batch, and kiefdog shared the 09. Holy mackarel! Pours red- dark brown with a slight off-white head. Nose is vanilla, bourbon, maple, dark fruit, wood, booze, and chocolate. Flavor is similar with roastm chocolate, cocoa, and vanilla bourbon. Balanced, yet slightly boozy (I don’t mind). Medium bodied and very silky overall. Had to rerate and increase the numbers.
4.4 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Pours black. Nose is loads of booze, acetone, cherry, black currants, roasted malt, more booze. I can smell this forever. Flavor is warming alcohol, roasted malts, figs, over-ripe plum, hot hot alcohol. Huge mouthfeel. What a treat. Thanks Gillard.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
22 oz. bottle (#47/2008) from a BA trade. Pours black with a small beige head that was gone in 5 seconds. The aroma definitely showed the bourbon, but molasses, moderately sweet malt, dark fruits, and rubbing alcohol were also present. I enjoyed the flavor moree than the nose. This beer was big with flavor: bourbon, roasted malt, caramel, chocolate, molasses, licorice, woody, vanilla and at times a strong alcohol presence. Medium bodied and complex.
I had a sample at DLD from a different bottle and enjoyed it just as much.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Another old rating. Aroma of a lot of alcohol and some dark fruits. A little sweetness, tobacco, but pretty pretty tastey. Didnt seem as smooth as this could have been . Still a great beer.
4.6 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 19/20
UPDATED: NOV 8, 2010 22oz bomber, 2008 bottle #320, courtesy of jh1982 poured into a tulip.
Pours pitch black with a small mocha head that dissipates quickly, leaving a small ring and spotty lacing.
The aroma is fantastic and has a near perfect balance between the bourbon, which is not overpowering, and the underlying stout. There are lots of dark sweet malts, chocolate and tons of molasses sweetness in the nose. The barrels add a nice dose of bourbon and vanilla on top of that.
If anything, the taste is better than the aroma. The initial taste is a hint of bourbon with a big dark malt and chocolate sweetness forming a backbone. The finish is a bit of bakers chocolate mixed with bourbon and vanilla. One of the best tasting stouts I’ve ever had.
The mouthfeel is medium bodied with good carbonation and only the slightly bourbon burn in the finish.
This beer just blew me away. Quite possibly the most effective use of bourbon barrels I’ve seen in a beer. I was expecting good things but never expected this to be a world-class stout. That’s exactly what this is - a world-class stout.
3.9 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Sampled via hand bottled container during Dark Lord Day ’09. Pours an opaque dark brown colored, nearly black, brew with a thin tan head that quickly dissipates to a thin film top. Aroma of toasted dark malt, a hint of bourbon, coconut, some coffee and plenty of dark chocolate. Taste is full bodied, nearly no carbonation, with flavors of toasted dark malt, chocolate, a hint of coffee and some sweet toffee. Finish is smooth with a toasted dark malt and chocolate aftertaste and a hint of bourbon.
3.6 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle from mj, or kmweaver, or ryan, or all three combined...
Pours a deep brown with a thin brown head. The nose is chocolate, alcohol, vanilla, bourbon and oak. The body is medium with low carbonation. The flavor is much the same as the aroma, but the heat and flavor from the barrels was a bit over the top. Would love to taste an aged version.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
bottle at DLD 2009 ... Deep black ... rich toffee nose... rich malts ... deep malts ... some toffeee ... little cofee roast.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Tap @ brewery. Black body, opaque, topped with a light brown head that coats the glass. Mouth is fullish with light carb and a semi-wet finish. Aroma of bourbon, vanilla, dried, dark fruits, molasses. Flavor of vanilla, dark fruits, bourbon, chocolate, roasty chocolate and alcoholic warmth on finish. Served WAY too cold (couldn’t taste anything but bourbon and vanilla until it sat 10 minutes), but this was very nice once it sat out. I’ll try it again and pick up a bottle next time I swing by.
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