Smoking Gun
Goose Island Beer Co.

From notes. My pour is a nearly pitch black color with just a touch of a mahogany edge around the border of the glass. There is visibly almost no carbonation, just a few stray brown bubbles clinging to the edge of the glass.

There is a lot going on in the nose. At first the Bourbon County Vanilla really comes through. Deep roasted malt, dark chocolate, semi-sweet molasses, vanilla, and soft bourbon. After that, though, I get another array of flavors in the nose. Smoke, oak, spiced bread, and more chocolate. Very complex and interesting.

The flavor is incredible as well. The flavors run all over the spectrum, from sweet caramel and molasses to smokey. There is a little bit less vanilla noticeable than in the Vanilla Bourbon County, but with the variety of other flavors present, it is not a problem. The dark, roasted, coffee, and coffee notes that are noticeable in bourbon county stout are joined by a sweet caramel and graham cracker malt presence. The bourbon wanders in and out of the flavor, working well with the malts, vanilla, and oak to really bring this beer to another level.

As one would expect, it has a very full body to go along with a thick and viscous mouthfeel. There is very little carbonation, but that does not get too much in the way of my enjoyment of the beer.

This was a great rare treat to be able to try. Rarely have I been unhappy with Goose Island’s Bourbon County experiments.

 

This beer is amazingly delicious. Laces well, great head retention.

Milk chocolate huge aroma, cocoa powder, faint roasted smoked wood, burnt and charred oak. Little bit of pork. Integrated through and through.

Chocolate mixed with vanilla! Like a caramel flavor, flan... Custard with cocoa dusting. Finishes delightfully mild roast. Perfectly blended. You can taste all three components and how they melded.

Thick, chewy, sharp, sweet. Lingering, silky cuastard smooth. Very chalky with crumbled edges.