A superb beer! Dark garnet showing amber at the edges. Maple, figs, fusel alcohol. A touch of soy? Fruitcake. Rather sweet. This is what SATB wants to be. Yogurty sour milk in the nose, part of an acrid profile that reminds of baltic porters.

Courtesy of Kinz. Hazy dark brown color with a thin off-white head. Dark malt and molassas flavor. Sweet flavor with hints of fruit. Lots of molassas is present

2005 bomber, generously provided by OldGrowth on 1/22/06. Served well-chilled to begin with, but allowed to warm up to room temperature.
Fairly vigorous pour yields a large amount of tan, graham cracker colored head that forms of a multitude of ultra-fine bubbles that are slow to settle out. Head is lasting, dense and provides a fair amount of lacing (though on OldGrowth’s glass, the head was neither well-retained, nor did it lace). The body is opaque. Deepest of brown-blacks with magenta-violet tinges right at the surface and edges.
The nose is perhaps the most subtle, but richly rewarding I have smelled on a beer. At first, I mistake it for a weak nose, albeit full of delightful milk chocolate. However, it is truly anything but weak. Allowing the beer to warm fully and breath, a delicate vanilla and light woodiness emerges, aided by a graceful drying whiskey note that is only lightly apparent. Notes of Spanish coffee, brought on by a moderate roast with further sweet chocolate overtones round out the balanced aroma. Faint charred wood, adding a zip of acidity and drying bitterness puts the finishing touches on the aroma. The oak/whiskey in the nose is so well integrated with the rest of the beer, it almost feels as if the oak and whiskey character were a note imparted by the brewing of the beer.
Hardly being able to hold myself back any longer, I take a long and curious mouthfull. Damn. This is beer. Chocolate, light roast, bits of dry barley graininess, sweetened molasses and certainly more toffee, prunes and plums all explode on the palate. Perhaps explode isn’t the right word, as the flavors are neither forceful nor overdone, but they are just so vibrant and homogenized. Light whiskey dryness, in the perfect medium of sweet caramel-chocolate-toffee, is carried from start to finish while the charred wood note emerges towards the end and further emphasizes the style. Light peanut skins, vanilla, bits of cocoa and finally a sweeping (but balanced!) ending of prunes, toffee, chocolate and whiskey. Texture is so perfect, you don’t even think about it. Tight, engaging, low carbonation, but ample enough to keep the beer from becoming anywhere near too sweet or sluggish. Alcohol provides light warming tones on the end, and is masterfully masked. Creamy, at times chewy and malty. Reminds me a lot of Orval. It’s just what beer is all about. Something about this beer is so compelling and yet so simple, it just screams "Enjoy me!" and proves very difficult to concentrate on.
Yes, it is a low key example, I suppose. Certainly nothing in your face, and the aroma must be worked at to unlock its mysteries. But what does low key really mean? Beer shouldn’t be about quantity. This is quality if I’ve ever seen it. It may even be mistaken for a lighter example, but then, taking in to account its ABV, it is a difficult stance to maintain. It’s just so elegantly done, so subtle that it comes off that way. And don’t even get me started on the barrel aging of this beer. It is (in my mind) the model all other bourbon beers should follow. Barrel character is just an aspect, rather than the dominant character.

2005 bottle shared by OldGrowth on 1/22/06.
What a nose!!! It’s like a fresh revival of Harveys Elizabethan or Bluegrass Old Pats Barleywine. Just immense amounts of rich English toffee delicately and perfectly placed next to a dry prune and raisin note. Light yeastiness, thick caramel backbone and hints of chocolate and port wine. Oak aging, truly gracefully done, adds light whiskey, almost peat-like notes. Intense, strong, lasting and supremely sniffable. Hardly any hops but with this elegant oak aging, adding just a hint of sharpness (as OldGrowth says), you don’t need em! The flavor is thick, rich and malty, full of caramel and toffee, with more bittering hops than flavoring hops. Sticky, lightly floral (mostly floral actually) with hints of oak and dry woodiness. Chewy to the extreme, with some acidity and light vanilla. Carbonation is low and very tight, alcohol is warming, at this level it’s inevitable, but nothing past that. Very full bodied. Looks the part Spotty lacing, near opaque, low filtration, bottle conditioned, large head, slow to recede. Auburn notes throughout a mahogany chestnut body. Perhaps a bit syrupy, this would age WONDERFULLY! Funny having this after Leviathan 2002. That one seems so wise, and I’m sure this one will develop that. I will certainly revisit.