Bottle. Long time want. Thanks hackobock! Opaque black liquid with medium tan head. Aroma of licorice, coconut, chocolate, coffee, light vanilla and light wood. Taste is medium sweet and light bitter with notes of chocolate, coffee, bourbon, vanilla and wood. Full bodied with low to medium carbonation. Pretty nice, but the bourbon character isn’t super pronounced.

Very thick and rich tasting. Lots of vanilla and bourbon whiskey. A hint of fresh tobacco too. Thanks to Martinus for the sample!

Black, tan head. Aroma of Bourbon, vanilla, caramel, wood, banana, chocolate. Sweet flavour, vanilla, Bourbon, chocolate, caramel and soy sauce. Quite boozy. Finish malts, caramel, wood, Bourbon, vanilla and soy sauce.
(from 35.5cL bottle shared @ De VIP School Gent, GBF 2015. Bronze Wax. From trade. Thanks for muling the beers for me, Eugene. Cheers!)

Thanks to Martinus! Sampled 355 ml. bottle @ Gents Bierfestival 2015. Waxed! Pours pick black with very dark small mocha head. Nose is very thick warming bourbon, boozy, rich thick black chocolate, big in spirit quality. Taste is big quite boozy, big spirit, sludge, bourbon, big thick black chocolate, light molasses, raw, touch sugar, more black chocolate. Very thick oily body. Very strong, quite nice, I preferred the non-BA version, it isn’t like I tasted them side by side. Very nice still, a bit too strong & booze, light soy sauce. Strong.

Courtesy of 77ships at Gents Bierfestival. Thanks very much for this one! The bourbon barrel aged version of an already great American RIS, so I was very curious about this. Deep beige, stable head over a practically black beer; complex and beguiling aroma of indeed rich bourbon and beautiful woody tannins, spanning a whole array of basic RIS qualities, including chocolate, coffee grounds, banana peel, bayleaf, deep caramel, candied dates; very rich and complex taste, basically the regular Plead the 5th with all its depth, velvety mouthfeel and deep caramelly and chocolatey maltiness along with a prolonged roasted bitterness in the end, but deepened further with drying but delicious woody notes (tannins) as well as bourbon warmth, a bit alcoholic but only adding complexity and elevating this wonderful stout to a higher gastronomic level. Formidable, I can see how this scores so high on this site.

Botle @ ZEBF 2015. Aroma of coffee and vanilla, with subtle roast. Taste is quite nice, with thick bourbon booze vanilla, coffee, chocolate and smooth roasted malt. Great beer.

Bottle from a trade. Many thanks! Black, brown foam. Soft carbonation. Aroma of roasted malts, dark chocolate, vanilla, some fruitiness, and bourbon. Well balanced. Not too sweet. Good!

Imported from my RateBeer account as Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Plead the 5th Imperial Stout (by Dark Horse Brewing Company):
Aroma: 9/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 9/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 19/20, MyTotalScore: 4.3/5

22/VI/15 - 12Fl. Oz. bottle @ home - BB: n/a, 2014 vintage (2015-810) Thanks to JefVerstraete for sharing the bottle!

Little hazy dark brown to black beer, big creamy beige to brown head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: malty, roasted, coffee, earthy, bit sourish. MF: ok carbon, full body. Taste: bit sweet, caramel, lots of chocolate, bit sugary. Aftertaste: mocha, vanilla, caramel, dried fruits, little bitter, milk chocolate, slightly sour, very balanced and nice, lovely beer!

Bottle @ home. Opaque pitch black color, average to medium sized a bit fizzy, quickly diminishing very dark brown head. Aroma is malts, dark malts, bourbon, vanilla, wood, oak, lightly sweetish and lightly alcohol. Taste malts, roasted malts, dark malts, bourbon strongly, vanilla quite firm, initially a light sweetness linked with the vanilla, changing in the middle to a roasted malt bitterness with a light alcohol burn, finishing with wood, more bourbon, slightly vanilla, roasted malts and bitterness. Medium body, soft carbonation. I would have loved it to be even more oily and thick texture-wise, but this is one hell of a beer. Magnificent!

Wee bottle as an extra in a trade with knickskicks - you rock! - cons 2015-05-12 Spring Hill - 11% and golden wax AR: caramel, bourbon vanilla, milk chocolate when poured scottish fudge AP: black on black, wee frothy diminishing dark brown head F: rich carbonation, heavy warming feeling, dark milk chocolate bar, scottish caramel fudge, bourbon vanilla, full bodied long and lasting flavors, great brew! And yeah - some american chocolate cookie cream ice cream