4.3 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20Pours a thick deep brown and a nice dark tan head. The aroma is overwhelming of bourbon and sweet chocolate. Just by the aroma you can tell it’s a strong beer.
Taste is very complex and rich, dark chocolate mixed with coffee and maybe some vanilla, bourbon and oak are strong as well without one flavor dominating, it’s a bit hard to put a finger on what your tasting at a single moment. The bourbon might be the most dominate which kinda detracts from the beer goodness I know is underneath.
The mouthfeel is indeed very thick and rich and to be honest a bit hard to drink by itself and needs a nice food complement to I think fully enjoy the nuances of this beer.
Overall a great beer, but a couple things need to be better balanced to hide the bourbon a bit more and to ease the drinkability... needs to be smoothed out. I had a 2011 bottle so it’s likely aged bottles will be better balanced.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bomber. Thanks to mike12da. Massive fumes, super-concentrated prunes, and lotsa bourbon. Dark, dark, dark. Extremely sugary initial / ridiculous alcohol rising > chocolate cake frosting with a substantial alcohol burn on the back of the tongue, with a dark caramelly sweetness / finish continues with alc. and a great chocolatey, pureed prune coating. Thick, smooth, and creamy. Huge attack on all levels. A bit much. Somewhat one-dimensional, but on such a high plane that it doesn’t matter.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottled. Nose of vanilla, coconut, bourbon, wood. Sweet, sweet flavor and boozy. Cola, bourbon, cream soda, vanilla, coconut. Huge and crazy. Lots fo flavour and quite enjoyable too.
4.3 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
Bottle shared with Allesmetkaas. Pours dark brown with a tiny ring tan head. Aroma of vanilla, bourbon, chocolate, molasses, alcohol, toffee, candy, roasting leather. Flavour is heavy heavy sweet. Fairly thick mouthfeel with very warming alcohol in the finish that grows the more you drink. Full bodied with soft carbonation.
4.2 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle shared at Tadg in Kyoto. Fantastic bourbon and malt nose. Sweetness masks most of the 19.2% surprisingly drinkable for such a complex taste ...
3.8 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Another nice share at Tadg’s party. The aroma was a supremely boozy punch. The taste had coconut, vanilla and once I heard it was aged in bourbon barrels I could totally believe it. It defiinitely has a sipping bourbon kind of feel to it. It’s a delicious beer, perfect for after dinner sipping as a digestif. I got a real winter cabin by the fireplace vibe, not really matching 30C hot humid summer weather but it is a truly nice beer in small doses. Buy a bottle & share it with friends.
4.3 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bottle in a tulip. Pours very dark brown (not black like I or a previous rater expected) with a small, lacy tan head. Aroma of a lot of bourbon and oak, roasted malt, chocolate and light coffee, plus a light bitterness. Flavor the same with a nice chocolate and roasted malt character. Smooth, rich texture. A really good beer.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 18/20
Going from memory. It poured a lot thinner than I was expecting. Not completely black either. When it was colder, it was almost painful to drink. Really hot and a real throat burner. As it warmed it smoothed out and became quite delicious.
4.8 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 19/20
Just absolute perfection in a glass from aroma and appearance to the perfect balance of bourbon to beer.
4.3 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Pours viscous black with a ring of white foam around the glass. Aroma is chocolate, bourbon, and black licorice. Taste is rich chocolate, huge bourbon, and a touch of cinnamon candy. Really hot but damn it’s tasty.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
2009 bottle thanks to Tom-thanks for this one!! Dead black. Thick and chewy. A bit sweet so a small taster/glass is good with this one. I remember having this at GABF when it first came out-nice to have it again.
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