The black beer sports a brown (not tan, mind you) head and absorbs photons in its immediate area. The aroma is very heavy bourbon and oak. The versions of these bourbon barrel beers that I liked always had it in the background, just coaxing out the other flavors and adding its specialness to them. This seems like it might be a bit too much, but the aroma isn't everything, is it?First sip is really damn oaky and heavy with the alcohol of a brown liquor. The stout upon which it is based doesn't seem to be coming out to play at all, but I have been fooled by this kind of thing before. Sometimes a complex beer just can't be sipped if you want to taste it correctly. Instead, we swig.
Tip-in is oak, smoke, light carbonation, and hints of chocolate and coffee. The middle rolls in with a solid oak branch. The wood taste isn't that bad, and it has a lot of smoke to it, but it's not the taste of a stout. The finish is more of a cherrywood with a bit of vanilla and a harsher wood taste to go with more smoke.
Bottom Line: Drinkable, but not my favorite.
2.25/5
