Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 8

Nest's flagship stout aged on barrels of Belgian whisky (Belgian Owl, made in a village to the northwest of Liège), one of a few variants of this beer I apparently missed, so here's my second chance... Mocha-beige, loosely knit head, taking a bit of forcing to form but then fizzing away into as good as nothing, like the 'head' on a glass of coke; largely black robe with thin mahogany brown edges, more cloudy brown in the end. Aroma of hard caramel, old 'fondant' chocolate bars, roasted walnut, whisky indeed but also something more calvados-like, old oak wood including a whiff of vanilla, toffee, raisins, burnt toast, bay leaf, molasses, ground hazelnuts, hints of ink, nougat, vague but still recognizable remnants of the anise used in the base beer, black peppercorns, marmite, dried eucalyptus leaves or even faint cough syrup (probably just the anise again), salmiak, dried thyme, pipe tobacco, tea, dry beef stock cube, toasted coconut somewhere, bags of dry peat faraway in the background. Sweetish onset, hints of dried fig, raisins and cooked pear with a slight sourish edge accentuated by very active, even somewhat stinging carbonation (a bit much so for the style) and laced with a very thin black olive-like umami edge; full, but supple mouthfeel, feeling relatively 'thinnish' for a 10% stout and clearly thinned by alcohol, which heates the tongue well before its time. Nutty, hard-caramelly and black-chocolatey maltiness, bittersweet with a good balance between bitter and sweet, but - as usual - turning more bitter in the finish when the toastiness sets in, even if this aspect refrains from going all the way and filling the mouth with a coffee impression. Spicy aspects - an echo of the anise - lurk in the background, adding some bitterness along with a firm dosis of herbal and spicy hoppiness, but soon the barrel treatment takes over, adding that typical rustic, vaguely vanilla-like and tannic oakiness as well as a lot of actual booze, indeed (and obviously) whisky-flavoured but not in a very expressive way; toffee- and bitter chocolate-like notes as well as that faded aniseed echo pleasantly linger after swallowing, heated by the Belgian Owl booze. It has been a couple of years since I last had a barrel aged Dead Man's Hand but I do not remember any of them being this boozy; the whisky element here is very pronounced, impairing drinkability a bit, but admittedly intensifying some of the basic features of the beer as well. The aniseed spicing, which distinguishes this 'Belgian imperial stout' (yes, that is a thing for me) from others, has faded a whole lot, but is still noticeable. Boozy and hot, but complex and certainly enjoyable, if it does lack a bit in body. More or less meets my expectations, apart from the total lack of head retention, but I guess I shouldn't care about that too much in a barrel aged imperial stout...

Dark black bod sml foam tan head. Roast, choc, toffee, wood arma. Roast, choc, molass, fruit toffee wood flav. Full bod mod carb. 8/5/8/4/16

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

F: thin, tan, not long lasting. C: dark, opaque, clear against the light. A: malty, nutty, chocolate, toffee, dried fruits, caramel, whisky. T: malty, roasted malt, toffee, chocolate, cocoa, a bit woody, full body, lower carbonation, very nice, fully enjoyed, thanks to tderoeck and kraddel for sharing beers today! Sampled from tap @ ZBF 2017 Leuven.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Thank you for sharing German speaking RB Crew! Sampled draft @ ZBF 2017. Black, little tanned head, solid head. Nose is mocha, roast, chocolate, mellow charred, pleasantly warming licorice. Taste is chocolate, mocha, mellow roast, low licorice, lightly boozy in a good way,... Bit too classical, retaining some BE characteristics still. Body is bit thin & roast for what it should be but tasty brew all the same. Better than the base for sure, this beer improves greatly with BA treatment it seems.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

RB BE #3000. From tap. Pours pitch black with a small tan head. Aroma is roasted malty. Mellow whiskey, dark roasted and smooth malty. Dry, toasted and lingeribg dark malty. Roasted malty and slight bitter far finish.

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

At Zythos 2017. Pours black. Aroma is strong Bourbon, coffee and liquorice, little chocolate. Body is medium, rather sweet, strongly bitter, tar-y. Rather short and dry palate for such a heavy beer. Good!

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Imported from my RateBeer account as Het Nest Dead Man's Hand (Whisky BA) (by Brouwerij Het Nest):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 16/20, MyTotalScore: 4/5

23/IV/17 - on tap @ Zythos Bier Festival 2017 (Leuven) - BB: n/a (2017-503) Thanks to kraddel for sharing today's beers!

Clear dark brown beer, creamy beige head, little stable, adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: alcohol, bit sweet, sugary, vanilla, soft roast, caramel, dried fruits. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: sweet start, little roasted, sugary, caramel, vanilla notes. Aftertaste: alcohol, sweet touch, malty, roasted, pretty bitter and hoppy finish, more alcohol.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Tap. Dark brown color with beige head. Aroma is chocolate, vanilla, some oak. Taste is coffee, chocolate, vanilla, refined whisky, some oak sugar. Silky mouthfeel, a bit warming booze in the finish. Very nice!