Old Rasputin XVIII (Aged In Rye Whiskey Barrels)
North Coast Brewing Co.

Appearance: Pours a deep, satiny black color with a frothy white foam head. Great retention.

Aroma: Toasted malt. Molasses, Vanilla, Chocolate, rye, and slight coconut.

Taste: Rye forward, Sweet roasted malts, chocolate, vanilla and slight coffee in the mid. A lingering, boozy finish.

Overall: This is quite a strong and complex stout, with well balanced flavor and aroma characteristics. 4.5 out of 5.

 

12oz bottle from Hops & Bottles. Black pour, skin of beige head. Rich chocolate notes throughout, licorice, rye notes. Sweet, subtle strength. Not that boozy.

 

 

 

I saw these and had to get them. I have long been a fan of most things from this brewer. This is #23.

This pours nicely black and heady. The aroma is strong and sublime - booze booze and booze. Get it? The taste is more like plain Old Rasputin, as if that were a let down. The aftertaste is a bit gritty - you know you've had the real deal.

Highly recommended. A different take on a classic brew that takes things to another level.

Half-pour in a snifter, on draft near my house.

A: Dark brown/black, opaque, with a creamy tan head that laces well.

S: Strong impressions of rye whiskey, mild spicing and earthiness with oak and a good dose of vanilla, mild coconut from the barrels. There is a present coffee aroma as well as a mild chocolate/dark chocolate roastiness.

T: Moderately strong whiskey character with a strong roasted malt backbone...there is a good dose coffee flavors and earthy spice...dark caramel, char, faint smoke...bittersweet bakers chocolate.

MF: Very creamy and smooth, not quite full-bodied, with low carbonation and a present dryness and moderate clingy bitterness.

O: Really nice rye barrel characters in this one, and it’s VERY smooth; invisible alcohol presence and no booze really, just a nice rye whiskey presence with earthy spice.

Not sure how much 5 years if age did for this one but it was an extremely handsome beer with a beautiful creamy brown head that lasted well throughout the entire drink, at least around the edges at the end, and the taste was smooth and creamy with a slightly roasty and barrel character. Others might say smooth and creamy and it’s been years since I’ve had any form of the beloved Old Rasputin, so I’m thinking I’d like to revisit both a fresh bottle of BA as well as a bottle on non BA just to compare. Enjoyed drinking this one as I finally found the right moment to pop that cork!

 

 

 

 

 

A corked and caged 500ml bottle, XVIII release. Poured into a snifter glass.

Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger dark tanned to brown head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.

Aroma: Light roast, chocolate, whiskey, oak and vanilla.

Taste: Rye whiskey forward providing sweetness, light roast, chocolate, coffee, oak and vanilla.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

Overall: Body was lighter than I’d prefer for what it is. I get the whiskey booze forwardness, but I don’t get much of the usual spiciness from rye whiskey (maybe I’ve held on to this bottle for too long?). But nevertheless, it is still an enjoyable sipper.

 

I can’t find a bottled on date anywhere on here, but ABV is stamped at 11.3%.

Caramel brown pour, dark and with a nice ring of beige head that settles softly around the body of the beer. Not much of any lace retention.

On the nose, immediately notes of dark fruit and rye barrel. Roasty malt and caramelized sugar compliment nicely as the beer opens up a little more.

Again, the barrel really shines here with a mildly spicy whiskey character. Following notes of caramel, molasses, raisin, oak, and subtle hints of coconut. Very well-balanced and subtly complex.

Fairy thin-bodied, with a low, soft carbonation. Not as much body as expected, but the residual stickiness and boozy warmth gives it all you need to round this out really nicely.

 

 

 

Loved this beer. Unlike many rye beers, this one has a smooth creamy finish. Nice head and aroma. Much more balanced than many whiskey barrel aged beers. Found this beauty at Public House in La Jolla.

 

 

Wow.

It seems everyone has a barrel aged stout these days...and most of them are fine for a few sweet sips for dessert...and little else.

Old Rasputin's 18 is something else...it's as heavy and complex of a beer as you'll ever taste, but it's also surprisingly smooth and drinkable...

It pours a dark "warm" black with a small cap of dark caramel colored somewhat fizzy head that dissapates, but hangs around in a thin layer for the rest of the time it's in your glass.

The smell is a boozy sweet and pleasant, but only indicative of a tiny bit of what awaits.

The flavor is just wonderful...there's the initial hot to the pallete, sweet, toasted coconut, dark chocolate, but things evolve quickly, running through a raisin/plum dark fruitiness to a bitter coffee and charred oak flavor on the tail end. It hits almost every taste bud, and it's wonderfully balanced, with no flavor domina ting and the progression from sweet to bitter leaves you craving another sip.

This is the real deal, if you find it, nab a bottle, save it for a cold night, and share it with someone else who'll appreciate it.

 

 

 

Pours pitch black with a quarter inch tan head that settles quickly to a ring and leaves many spots of lacing. Smells and tastes of dark chocolate, coffee, dark roasted malts, black licorice, dark fruits, vanilla and bourbon. Full bodied, minimal carbonation, creamy mouth feel. Very well done but really not worth the cost compared to other BA beers.

 

 

 

 

 

Another in the line of North Coast's barrel aged offerings. 500 ml bottle, $20 a pop, this one is on the high end of the price spectrum. Pours the usual thick and black just like the base beer, 1/4" tan head on the top of it. Aroma hits the strong boozy notes from the barrel. What is usually a heavily roasted malt presence in the base version, this barrel aged version tends to cover it up a little bit.

Taste is more hot alcohol booziness. Can't figure out why this one is on the higher end price wise, because it is on the lower end quality wise. Some chocolate malt notes there, but there really isn't anything adjunct or sweet wise to temper the high alcohol that is perceptible all the way through at any temperature here. So while this year's version might have avoided infection concerns that have been problematic, it still doesn't offer anything that you can't get for cheaper from many other sources. Given the awesomeness of the base beer, its hard to get excited about these versions that have pronounced alcohol as its main flavor component.