Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout Bourbon Barrel Aged

Bottle from Alex (coworker). Many thanks. Very black color, but the tan head wasn’t huge. Aroma is bourbon, chocolate, and roast malt. Fulll bodied with mild, creamy carbonation. Flavor is thick, smooth chocolate/burnt toast. With bourbon accents, and lurking coffee. Touch of smoke? This is pretty complex, and often underrated. IMHO. Finishes sweet, dry and astringent. Impossible? I would have thought so. In a class with Paradox stouts.

Huge bourbon barrel essence. Opaque black body with a soft brown head. Lots of burnt malt character - wood, smoke coffee - but the bourbon was overpowering, as what the alcohol, which was a little over-the-top.

Just wasnt’ a huge fan of this...seemed disjointed. Dark mahogany pour with a small latte head. Aroma was of hot bourbon and molasses. Flavor again focused on the bourbon, with a little oak, smoke, and chocolate. With time, this might be a good brew, but now it is young and messy.

I’ve never been a big fan of bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stouts, but this one converted me. Rich chocolate and bourbon aroma, emanating from a pitch black velvety body. The flavor grew more complex with each sip, slowly revealing layers of bourbon, vanilla, oak, marzipan, allspice, figs, dates, and rum raisin. Very sweet, and yet never cloying thanks to a somewhat gingery-like dryish finish that compels the drinker to savor another hard taste of this nectar. Any comparison between this, and the Full Sail’s regular imperial stout are purely coincidental...apparently the ten months of barrel aging completely transformed this one, even more dramatically than the Laphroiag barrel aging improved Flyer’s regular 140 Shilling Scotch Ale. I’d keep typing my praises, but I’m off to score the better part ofa case of this beauty!

Bomber. Pours a crude oil black with a short lived brown head that faded faster than my 401(k) balance. The nose is dark fruit, roasted malt and bourbon. The taste is cocoa, burnt chocolate, dark fruit and light coffee with a oaky bourbon finish. Medium creamy body. Very good, especially if you like bourbony beers like GI BCS.

2009 bottle. Pours a deep black with a small burnt brown head. Aroma of vanilla, bourbon, oak, chocolate, coffee. Flavor is bourbon, vanilla, oak, brown sugar, chocolate, molasses, licorice. Has an awesome mouthfeel and isn’t too cloyingly sweet like a lot of big stouts are. This is a great BA stout, I really enjoyed it.

Despite the label on the bottle I was taken a bit by surprise. This is loaded with bourbon aroma and flavor and I love every second of it. The intense flavor subsides quick enough and leaves a stoutly dark chocolate flavor. Little bit of toffee, little bit of roasted coffee... quite a lot of flavors. Looks like a quart of oil with almost no head. Ten percent ABV? I wouldn’t have guessed if you hadn’t told me. Excellent brew.

I’m *very* impressed with this one. Pours black, with a dense, light tan head. The thing I love the most is how they managed to impart so much bourbon into the aroma and flavor, yet maintain a rich complexity beneath that note. The aroma was overwhelmingly of bourbon - this is the closest a brew has come to the Bourbon County Stout as I’ve seen. Bourbon and oak, underlaid with toffee, chocolate, brown sugar, and a strong vanilla note as well. Mouthfeel is fantastic - just thick enough, and with just enough carbonation to keep it clean. Sweet, but dry. The one flaw is a slightly sour note that lingers. Slightly boozy, though pretty well-covered for 10.5%. Very drinkable for that ABV. Way to go, Full Sail!