Heresy
Appearance: Pours an inky black body with a dark, tan-colored head that quickly fell to a thin ring of lace. Smell: A redolent aroma vast in red wine qualities; dark chocolate, black pepper, alcohol, and tart, dark fruitiness. Taste: For me, it's more evocative of a red wine than anything bourbon based. Unfortunately, any chocolaty or roasty stout qualities are thin and tend to meander, and that's if you can perceive them beneath the excessive oakiness. As the beer warms, the alcohol goes from being glaring to overkill. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Moderate carbonation. Somewhat watery texture. Drinkability: For me, it fell short of the bold, though balanced deliciousness of some other Imperial Stouts. In fact, I preferred the simple, straight-up Old Heathen Stout. *Vintage Update* Let's see how its sister bottle turned out. The wine character has greatly diminished, now replaced with a vinous plum/prune combination. The oakiness has also declined, currently at a very nice level. There're malty tastes of roast and bittersweet chocolate, but they're not particularly strong and there's only a very, very minute amount of sweetness remaining. While it hasn't seen a betterment from a few years of quiet aging, it did hold up. But that's cellaring for you, it's a crapshoot.