Mill Creek "Unplugged" Imperial Stout

The can is particularly proud to say that this beer is aged in bourbon barrels from Blue Note. I had never heard of Blue Note before, but I am not a whiskey drinker, as many of you may know. It appears that Blue Note produces a straight bourbon whiskey. That seems kind of redundant, but they know their product better than I do. Blue Note is out of Memphis, Tennessee, where Mill Creek is from Nolensville Tennessee. For reference, the distance between them is about 230 miles. Is that an interesting statistic? Well, I wrote it down like it was.

The beer is black to its core, and only someone who really had to know if there was a shift in color at all would argue that it was slightly brown. The tan head of very tiny bubbles doesn't sprout particularly fast, but it also doesn't go away in a hurry. At first glance, after the beer had settled, you might convince me that this was any other stout, including Guinness. The aroma, however, gives it away. This beer is positively weighed down by the bourbon that it has leached from the barrels. Let's see if the beer can influence the bourbon this time.

First sip is surprisingly smooth. It may just be that I got a mouth full of the near microscopic bubbles, or it may be that I had a day that requires a beer with some heft. Either way, this has the smoky abruptness of bourbon, but it is complementing the stoic nature of the Imperial Stout in an interesting and very pleasant way. Will that be the case after the swig? There is at least one way to find out. 

Tip-in is smoky and sweet malt with bourbon highlights that turn the malt into a thick molasses. The middle is unimpeachably smooth with the thick malt giving heft to the surprisingly bright and playful bourbon as sweetness wraps them both in a firm embrace. The finish turns expectedly dry as wood enters the scene and a smoky sweet bourbon lingers for the trail off.

Bottom Line: This is pretty outstanding.

4.5/5