(Draught at Bryden’s, Toronto ON, June 16th 2013) Pours black with a fairly large tan head, no lace. Aroma is bourbon barrel (whiskey, vanilla, charred wood) and sarsaparilla/mint over black coffee. Flavour is initially a melange of bourbon, vanilla, smoke, mint and root beer over dark chocolate. Kind of like dunking mint chocolate into a spiked coffee. This shouldn’t be good, but it is. As it finishes, mint, licorice and root beer lingers with a powdery chocolate and the fading sense of a shot of bourbon. Carb is very low and smooth, almost non-existent. This obviously the progeny of last year’s GLB sarsaparilla stout, but the barrel works better alongside the base beer than by any right it should. I don’t think the barrel comes out much until its warmed but is pretty prominent near room temp.