 mreusch (445), Olathe, Kansas, USA
May 3, 2008
12oz. bottle, with thanks to hopdog! Pours jet black with a large and lively fizzy brown head, minimal lacing. Aroma is bourbon, vanilla, oak, chocolate and some espresso. Flavor is more of the same, with less bourbon than is on the nose. A bit over carbonated, but enjoyable just the same. Thanks again Steve!
thornecb (1054), Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA
Aug 28, 2008 Pours black into a snifter. Mocha head with medium retention leaves slight lacing as it recedes. Cobwebbed oak and bourbon aromas. Upfront sweet bourbon and a little thin. Becomes more creamy if you swish a little. Oak, vanilla and bourbon in the finish.
JCB (1001), Durham, North Carolina, USA
Aug 26, 2008 22oz from Sam’s, Durham. While I’m generally a fan of Weyerbacher’s oak aging, this one falls just short of the mark for me. An inky pour but with very little evident carbonation, this portends a thin mouthfeel. Nicely rich malty notes of chocolate in the nose, with just a touch of that vanilla that dominates W’s oak-aged beers. I dig that just fine, but the beer is very thin. You can detect the play of oak, vanilla, and roasted malts every so slightly, but the beer sort of works its way down - as if through a funnel - until you get a single note in the finish, thin and slightly syrupy. A decent imperial stout, but there are dozens out there that are far better.
00cobraR (941), Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
Aug 26, 2008 Pours out a black color with a small brown head. Aroma is full of roasted malt with a nice slightly fruity scent to it. Flavor was robust with notes of oak, choco, and vanilla. Over all a fantastic brew.
Biddle_Brau (135), Midland Park, New Jersey, USA
Aug 24, 2008 Ink black with dense tan head and a rich chocolate aroma. Flavor is dry and roasty (but not overly), undertones of fruit/raisins with a big chocolate finish. Full bodied and oily as expected and quite bold. Perhaps this is too big of a beer for the oak to make an impression because I wasn’t able to perceive the flavors typical of that process. A very nice brew.
FlacoAlto (2086), Tucson, Arizona, USA
Aug 20, 2008 April 2004 Bottling (or there abouts); Sampled August 2008
A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces both aromas of rum and bourbon as well as a four-finger thick, darkly brown stained, dark tan colored head. The beer is quite black though it will show a flash of color if held up directly to the light. Spicy, buttery, vanilla laden, Bourbon-like aromas definitely dominate the nose. The vanillin notes are perhaps the most dominant note here and are definitely enjoyable. This is as harshly alcoholic / boozy smelling as I would have expected and there is also a significant, lightly toasted coconut aroma here that becomes quite distinctive. There is perhaps a touch or toasty malt aromatic notes here, but the barrel clearly dominates the aroma, yet remains smooth enough that I don’t find it objectionable. I wonder if the couple of years have helped to mellow this beer out.
The body is somewhat thin for an Imperial stout and has likely lost a bit of heft over the years. Malt flavors and alcohol combine to contribute a sweetness to this brew that is somewhat light. Spicy oak notes yield to buttery oak components that sit on top of vanilla flavors. The dark grain flavors are much more noticeable in the flavor and contribute a finish of espresso, some tart burnt flavors, chocolate notes (that pair well with the vanillin components), a dusty cocoa note and a touch of astringent burnt grain that contributes a touch of bitterness in the finish. Some flavors of roasted, dried figs and blackened rains help to round out things just a bit. As the beer warms up a touch of chalky malt becomes noticeable in the finish, but only just.
Definitely dominated by the Bourbon barrel aging, but it keeps from being harsh (especially in the nose where it is quite smooth). Not bad and perhaps even a bit better than I was expecting.
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