White Oak
Room-temperature (55 F in my place) bottle into a glass. Courtesy of Overlord. Many thanks, Mike. A: Pours a murky golden-amber color with a short-lived finger of off-white fluffy head. It collapses into a thin film on the brew with a thick collar that deposits sheets of non-sticky bubbles during each swig. Not mindblowing for a BSPA, but decent. S: Vanilla, cinnamon, honey, oak, wheat, caramel, toffee, mango, and a light ethanol scent. I can't find any bourbon. T: Begins with yeast, vanilla, and cinnamon. Other spices (cardamom?) that I can't quite figure out. Mid-taste is honey, wheat, and more "traditional" malts of caramel and toffee. I also detect mango throughout, but it pops up at strange times. The finish reveals a light, peppery bourbon character with oak, but there is also a booze burn that pulls into the finish. Very strong-tasting. Unfortunately, the powerful and cloying combination of honey, vanilla, and booze in the aftertaste is pretty tough to swallow. Initially a 3, but after drain-pouring a lot of the beer I can't really give it anything higher than a 1. M: This is sticky as hell. It clings to the mouth. A forced sipper no matter how you look at it. Unfortunately you do feel the 11% throughout, and it adds an unpleasant aftertaste to an already heavy beer. The style should be fluffier. A semi-dry finish. D: Lots of strong tastes here. But it's very heavy on the palate, and the finish is challenging. I'm not sure barrel-aging was a good idea for this one. Also, I really should have split this with people. I was unable to finish the bottle and poured out about 40% of it. Gah. I hate throwing away expensive beer.