George Dickel Whisky Barrel Aged IPA
Upstream Brewing Company - Old Market

the others i shared this with didnt care for it, said it smelled and tasted stale, afterall the bottle is roughly a year old, and its an ipa, but i disagree with them, i loved this very much, appreciated its maturity, and found it extremely unique. hazy muted rust color, heady and frothy and rich looking. smells to me like mosaic hops, i get that tropical intensity, mellowed of course by oak. i get more wood than whiskey in the nose too, some mild vanilla tones, but more of the fresh oak, highly compatible with the hops here. the flavor is cool because its tasted out of sequence compared to normal. instead of huge hop finish, the hops are most vibrant mid palate, and i still think i get mosaic or something similar, high alpha and tropical. maybe some pine to finish too. the malty part is in the finish, and as big as it is, its super dry feeling, an odd but pleasant experience. the beginning is where i taste all the barrel. whiskey is sweet and a little thin, but rather mature and adds a lot to the hoppy beer. overall i liked this a lot, and while i am sure it has changed and maybe lost some luster over time, i like the way it all comes together, and found this to be a very enjoyable rarity. cool mix of hoppy beer and wood, an all too uncommon combination!