Rasputin Bowmore BA
Brouwerij De Molen

 

Pours a pitch-black coloration with a medium, creamy head. Smells roasted, bready caramel malt, with strong notes of dark/red fruit, some coffee and chocolate, as well as hints of peat and oak. Taste is an excellent balance of roasted, bready, caramel malt, strong notes of dark/red fruits: fig, raisin, plum, cherry, with a certain sherry character, coffee, chocolate, some peat smoke and lighter notes of licorice, oak and just a hint of earthy/herbal, bitter hops. Finishes with amedium bitterness and some roasted malt,dark fruits and peat smoke lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a rich body and light/medium carbonation.

I think this actually benefits tremendously from the aging in Bowmore barrels, which seem perfectly suited for this brew due to the use of sherry barrels, adding nicely to the dark/red fruit notes, while also adding a bit of that peaty smoke, giving this an even more pronounced complexity and better balance in my opinion, without becoming overly boozy. Quite a rich, complex and well-balanced Imperial Stout that is an absolute joy to drink if you can appreciated those fruity sherry and smokey peat notes.

 

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of black chocolate notes with some discreet notes of smoked scotch notes. Taste is also a mix of smoked scotch notes with some huge black chocolate notes with some residual sugar notes. Body is full with nice creamy texture and good carbonation with no real apparent alcohol notes. Enjoyable but barrel-aged notes could have been more prevalent.