Bottle courtesy of Greg at Birreria Paradiso - thanks Greg! Medium murky brown color with a thin white head that settles quickly and leaves good lacing. Aroma of oak and whisky. Flavor has lots of malt and caramel, wood and earth, and a background of light smoke. Whisky is in the aroma where it belongs, but doesn’t overpower the taste. Nice.

Luckily I’d read about the gusher on opening..and I was ready. Pours foamy deep mahogany into a snifter. Head gradually dissipates leaving spots. Dark caramel, oak and rye bourbon aromas. Upfront highly carbonated vanilla, caramel and oak turning to a lasting dry whiskey barrel finish. Well done again.

Bottle. Pours a leathery brown with a very large head of densely packed bubbles that seem to be hanging around for a while. A little bit of lace is forming on the sides of the glass, but I don’t have all night to wait and see how it turns out. The nose is a nice mix of dark fruit (plums, prunes and black cherries), an oaky earthiness, a bit of a chocolate/toffee like maltiness and a little bit of a musty air. Flavor is a very nice mix of the fruits and the creamy chocolate/toffee flavors from the malt. Alcohol is present (both in warmth and in flavor) but it blends in nicely and doesn’t leave any unseemly astringent sidecurrents. In the flavor the fruit seems to have a little bit of a banana flavor to it, which makes me wonder about the yeast used... This is very nice stuff and I wish it more readily (and more inexpensively) available.

Courtesy of tpd975. Pours deep dark brown with nice firm tan head. The aroma is crystal malts moving into fresh oak saw dust, a bit of rye bread, another bit being dark fruitiness and mild bourbon booze. Wow. The taste is full crystal malts and nearly fresh cut oak followed by muted roasted malts and some dark fruitiness. Midway just a sense of pine hops show up briefly followed by molasses and more crystal malts. Yummy. Thanks Greg.

courtesy of our man, tpd975. Batch E!007, pours cloudy brown with beige head. Aroma has a good nose of oak, vanilla and caramel malts. Taste has excellent notes of bourbon - whiskey and oak. Amazing beer, cannot go wrong with Bourbon - Whiskey barrel aged brews. Finish of light bitter hops.

This beer’s 100th rating. Yay! 750 mL bottle courtesy of Alraomon. Thanks! Batch E!007. Pours a dark brown color with a huge offwhite head. Great head retention and lacing. The aroma is rye, chocolate, vanilla, oak and some earthy tones. Taste is rye whisky, oak, vanilla, chocolate and cherry. Smooth and full bodied. Quite nice.

Sample at the Columbus Ratebeer gathering at ogglethorp’s 11/20/08: Batch #E!007 courtesy of a traveling colleague. The beer is a murky reddish brown color with a wispy off-white head that diminishes quickly. Spotty lacing on the glass. Aroma of malt and nuts plus a touch of vanilla. Full-bodied with flavors of oak, earthy malt and vanilla. Some fruit in the background as well. The finish is malty with hints of rye and vanilla, and leaves a lingering dark fruit aftertaste. Overall an interesting take on the style that I enjoyed.