Black Magick - Willett Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Voodoo Brewing Co.

Bottled on 5/3/2018; consumed on 7/17/2023

Pours a silky, viscous, jet-black body capped with just over a finger of creamy, chestnut-hued foam; solid head retention leaves a paper-thin layer of cap, large, frothy collar, and minimal-no lacing holding to the walls of the glass.

Aroma offers a pointed, charry roast sporting a quieted dark fruit inflection, with a tinge of creamy vanillins proceeding to burnt cacao, bourbon-soaked oak, and a leathery tobacco finish.

Taste shows rich, charry cacao easing to milk chocolate subtleties evolving, awash with stiff bourbon as prickly oak grazes sweet smoke through the mid-palate, leaving burnt vanilla pod and touches of caramel lingering on the finish.

Mouthfeel presents a medium body and a moderate carbonation sporting a drying spritz into a softening warmth before settling to creaminess and a subtle grit on the back end as a delicate roast finishes.

The committed bittersweetness so prevalent in the Black Magick series endures, with the heavy roast tempered through leathery barrel tannins ceding to graceful shreds of malted cocoa richness in easygoing contrast; an upper-tier offering in this series, and one that has sat well for over 5 years in the bottle.

An amazing beer - lots of flavor depth, sticky and thick body

 

 

Chocolate fudge, marshmallow, warming bourbon, and velvety smooth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silver wax, 2018 vintage, 12oz bottle, snifter glass.

Dark black body, oily legs, one finger offwhite head, fair retention, no lacing. More or less looks like a stout, I suppose.

Aromas of cocoa powder, milk chocolate, whiskey, oak, vanillin, light earthy tobacco. Touch of lightly roasted coffee bean, perhaps. Wonderful, fudgy chocolate brownie aroma.

Flavour is big liquid chocolate brownies. Massive bourbon barrel presence as well. The coffee bean on the nose seems to fade away into an intense milk chocolate and cocoa presence that assaults the palate. The vanillin adds a bit more sweetness to it as well, and the bourbon oak adds a nice astringency and a mild heat towards the backend. It's sweet, certainly, but not too overwhelmingly sweet. Finish is a touch chalky, but otherwise warming bourbon and milk chocolate coating the palate.

Full bodied, good carbonation and entirely appropriate for the style. Viscous, certainly not thin. Intense chocolate and cocoa on the finish, tempered by a big whiskey flavour that makes you put the glass down and savor the end of the palate.

Great barrel-aged stout which lives up to the notoriety of the Black Magick series- as headlined by the 2013 releases.

 

This one pours a very dark and deep black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like spicy burnt oak, chocolate fudge, heavy bourbon, toasted nuts, vanilla, roasted malt, and booze. This is such an evocative and impressive aroma here.

This has such a big spicy barrel character going on here, it's wonderful. It's only lightly boozy, but still a lot of barrel oak, toast, spice, vanilla, and bourbon, with a chewy chocolatey base. There's also bitter herbal darkness going on as well, and some espresso too.

This is thick and chewy, and just big and beefy and wonderful, with a good level of drinkability despite the huge ABV.

The Black Magick base just creates some absolutely mind blowing barrel-aged beers. These beers can rarely be beat.

Bottle #723

Overall I am very happy to have to finally tried this beer. But that only makes it all the more disappointing that the beers I traded for it possess considerably more depth and quality without the hype. The nose on this was really the only highlight. Still a good beer and a treat, however; it's quality is no where near the hype and secondary value it commands. Hype, weak sauce.

Black Magick Willet Bourbon Barrel
Bottle #820

Pours like overly used motor oil, rich, thick and oily looking, rather still with just a bit of head that fades quickly. The smell of the beer is packed with bourbon notes, Chocolate, Vanilla and coffee. The taste reflects the nose almost perfectly but with the notes of oak in the finish as well. The feel, much like the look of the beer is oily, rich and silky smooth, subtle booziness heat in there as well but doesn't detract from how good this beer is. Overall, there isn't much to complain about when it comes to these Voodoo Stouts, really well done.