It doesn't pour like most beers. It's pretty hard to even try to pour it like a regular beer out of this strange bottle. It some kind of weird glass that the Sam Adams brewery decided would be the best to showcase this beer, and it has some kind of plastic coating and maybe even a lining. It doesn't have a head, so I'm not going to get any lacing. I think this might be one of the only beers I've ever seen that has wine legs. As you move the beverage inside the glass, the viscous liquid sticks to the side of the glass and forms seeping rivulets that come back down to the top of the beverage. The aroma is pervasive coming off of this red caramel colored beer. It does not present as beer with its bourbon and wood aroma.
First sip is a snoot full of alcohol. And I mean a snoot. Before the beverage is even able to get to my lips, the alcohol stings my nose with its near overwhelming presence. Once the beverage hits the mouth, the barleywine nature of this particular beer hits strong. It's sweeter than a whiskey would be, and the grains that are behind it are more than just a wheat or barley. The effect is elegantly smooth, and the wood enhances rather than dominates the malt heavy richness that brings a lot of very dark fruits, bing cherries, and vanilla. A dryness follows the sting of alcohol as the beer very slowly fades to a memory.
Ordinarily, I would follow my procedure of swigging after a sip, but that does not seem appropriate for this particular beverage. I can tell you that I made the mistake of not reading the materials that came with this beer, so my first attempt at this review was stymied by an unpleasantness that was engendered into the beer by having chilled it. It was only later that I realized that it was to be served at room temperature, and room temperature seems to fit it very nicely.
Bottom Line: An approachable, if expensive, impression of whiskey done by beer.
4.25/5