In the grand scheme of rich person flexes, parading your pet ocelot around polite society surely must rank towards the top. This is precisely what Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí did throughout the 1960s. From Paris to New York City and on the ocean liner in between, Dalí traveled, dined publicly, and lived with his ocelot — a gift, he claimed, from a Colombian head of state. The speckled cat wore a jewel-encrusted collar and slept on a silk-draped sofa besides a marble fireplace. His name was Babou.

Our Babou is similarly an exhibition of opulence — a 12.4% imperial stout aged for 28 months in wheat whiskey barrels. A collaboration with our Maine friends Barreled Souls, this jet-black liquid began its journey in April 2022 as an entirely Epiphany Craft Malt grist. Flavorful Foundation base malt. Malted oats. Six different specialty grains. All calibrated to emerge from an extended rest robust but rounded.

We couldn’t be happier with how it’s arrived. Babou is endowed with a dark chocolate character — bittersweet notes of espresso, burnt sugar, and pure cacao. It possesses a heavy low end of dark fruit and stewed cherries, complimented by sherry from aging. The oak character is refined, more rickhouse than tannic. The mouthfeel is chewy and palate coating, not sticky.

Babou is ideal for fireside sipping — if your pet ocelot will share the couch.