500 ml bottle into snifter, 2019 vintage. Pours dense pitch black color with a small fairly dense tan head with poor retention, that reduces to nothing pretty quickly. Minimal spotty lacing on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, cream, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, raisin, fig, date, smoke, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Very minimal booze in the aromas as it warms. Incredible aromas with amazing complexity and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, coffee, vanilla, maple syrup, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with big strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, cream, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, raisin, fig, date, smoke, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Very mild herbal, grassy, roasted bitterness; and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, cream, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, dark/brown bread, licorice, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Insane complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, coffee, vanilla, maple syrup, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with a solid roast/hop bitter/sweet balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and super full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and slightly slick/sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is amazing. Mild increasing warmth of 14.5%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an insane barrel aged imperial coffee stout! All around amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, coffee, vanilla, maple syrup, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the huge ABV, with the mildly bitter/tannic/drying finish; amazingly soft feel for the ABV. Perfectly balanced between super rich malts, maple syrup, vanilla, fruity/nutty coffee, and Heaven Hill barrel presence/integration; mild earthy hops and fruity yeast. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. An insanely amazing offering, and world class style example. One of the smoothest stouts I've ever had for the ABV, especially for the young age.

2018 bottle shared at Lucky Bamboo share. Pours a pitch black with a small brown head that dissipates. Big, strong bourbon aromas with vanilla and cacao nib. More bourbon on the palate, fairly bourbon-forward and boozy. A bit thin with some oak and vanilla as it warms. Lingering hot bourbon, cacao nib and roasted malt. --- Beer merged from original tick of Kentuckley on 20 Apr 2019 at 00:45 - Score: 8