2005 bottle, consumed December 2005.
In my new Goose Island Brewmasters Reserve glass, nonetheless, which I picked up last weekend for this special pilgrimage. Deep, dark black liquidity and a beautiful dark, creamy tan head that sits on the surface and moves down the sides of the glass with elegant frothy ripples. A little thinner on the pour than last year’s batch, but still opaque in the glass. Aroma and flavor are uncannily consistent with last year’s batch. Perhaps a touch more caramel nougats in the aroma, and vanilla via nose and mouth, but I think it’s just been my evolution as a beer rater and my appreciation for what Greg Hall and the rest of the Goose Island team has accomplished with this beer. Flavor dimensions resound with familiar echos and predominantly pull from dark chocolate truffles basking in bourbon. Authoritative with every nuance. The bourbon’s not a little pick-me-up, it’s the leading lady and she daunts the shit out of you, yet masochistically, I don’t think I could ever get enough of her.

I waited nearly a year to have this one again, and now after doing so, I feel absolutely certain that this beer has attained perfection, which was something I was hesitant to exclaim in my early rating days, but something that definitely warrants declaring now.

2004 bottle, consumed April 2005.
Thick and black; dense. Minimal amoeba shaped head. Aroma is... holy bourbon, Mother of... Some molasses, charred oak and alcohol wafts. Flavor is... my Lord, rich rich rich. Velvety chocolate. Smooth vanilla, bourbon and oak. Tastes like a white chocolate truffle filled with Irish cream liquor. So thick. So smooth. Divine execution of malts and hops. A fine beer in every sense. Finish is mocha-laden and cotes the palate like wax. This one could easily replace any meal of the day.

B-I-N-G-O_! HMFA This is over the top. Having this at the beertasting and it is divine! Luscious. Thick and rich. So much going on take forever to describe it all. Aroma, color, body, head, finish are unequaled. Damn fine.

Simply astounding. I have one bottle left and I am saving it to celebrate when my nephew and I open our own business. It’s that good.

another great find at local store.i had heard about it and happen to find it .strong bourbon aftertaste but done well and is very easy to drink.dark thick and a very good sipping beer but was worth the price.try it if you like this type of barrel aged beer.

Perfect Impy Stout. Aroma is wood, leather and coffee. Pours black with almost no head. Nose is bourbon and a slight bit of molasses. Flavor is an INCREDIBLY smooth taste - with notes of raisins, currants, leather, tannins and just a little coffee. Finish is a nice woody note that begs for more. Sipping this beer is as close to heaven as you can get.