French stout aged in bourbon barrels, thanks to Meeki for sharing at his home tasting event last Friday. Pale greyish beige, opening, tiny-bubbled ring for a 'head' on a clear, very dark chestnut-brown robe with coppery glow - very dark indeed, but not black and in that sense not looking like a typical present-day imperial stout... Aroma of fondant chocolate, toffee, some bourbon but not very strong, caramel, odd hints of peppermint and dried basil, liquorice, walnut, some wet wood in the background. Sweet, creamy onset, some candied fig and dried elderberry, soft carb, smooth and slick caramelly maltiness with walnutty touch and dark-chocolatey edges; woody elements in the finish but not very tannic, nor does the bourbon flavour come through very clearly. There are tannins and there is bittersweet warming alcohol, but as a whole, this beer lacks the darkness, depth, volume and 'oomph' of what a contemporary BBA stout should look, feel and taste like - with that minty note only making it deviate further from this tradition. Nowhere unpleasant, but at least a bit off-topic.

Smell-medium strong, coffee, malt, weak dark chocolate, cacao. Foam- thin malt, roast, bitter tones. Medium thick, head is small to medium, fits bottle into glass fully. Sticks a bit. Appearance-brewer bottle cap, simple label.Black in color, no carbonation visible. From - tulip Taste - weak malt, weak roast, weak acidic tones, alcohol after. Malt, booze, weak roast, weak sourness in aftertaste later. Strong stuff. But honestly, don't like it that much.