Black Magick - Blanton’s Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Voodoo Brewing Co.

Bottled on 6/30/2021; consumed on 3/27/2023

Pours a silky, jet-black body capped with just shy of a finger of creamy, dark khaki-hued foam; modest head retention leaves a wispy layer of cap, a large, frothing collar, and a minimal few strands of webby lacing holding tentatively to the walls of the glass.

Aroma opens to malt char phasing to chocolate wafer, sporting an oaky caramel fudge note laced with smoke as wisps of bourbon linger deep in the backdrop.

Taste brings dry oak through burnt brownie crust and charry roast upfront, with hints of dark cherry over the mid-palate lingering to bourbon vanillins as notes of milk chocolate and espresso fade through the finish.

Mouthfeel features a body on the thinner end of medium and a minimal froth of carbonation, easing a silky gloss into advancing char through the mid-palate as the back end highlights a more pronounced bittering to a steady dryness on the finish.

A char-heavy profile exerted in familiar Voodoo fashion, and while reasonably expressive, not quite as complex or cohesive as other iterations in the Black Magick line.

poured from a gold waxed 12oz bottle, dated 6-15-21, into a SP BBT snifter. pours inky jet black with a fizzling dark brown foam cap. what remains is a thick dark brown collar around the rim of the glass. big whiskey oak barrel on the nose. some faint fudge. taste starts off with a strong punch of bourbon but the middle and the finish are a little bland. earthy and barrel char but the fudge on the nose is lost in the taste. thick, full mouthfeel. damn good BBA IS.

 

 

 

 

 

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

This smells like dark chocolate, nougat, caramel, spicy oak, honey, dark fruit, coffee, and leather.

There's a lot of barrel character on this one, as is the case with most of the Black Magicks. There's warming booze, a big hit of oak spice, some leather, tobacco, caramel, and vanilla. There's loads of dark chocolate, and some roastiness.

This is medium bodied, slightly boozy but enjoyably so, with a nice creamy and spicy finish.

I really enjoy how long this series ends up in barrels - they are such good vehicles to show how well a superior base stout can be transformed into a tasty big barrel monster.

Solid mahogany black with a short but dense and well retaining tan head that slowly settles to a creamy curled collar.

At the risk of sounding full of shit, this does exhibit that distinct Blanton's character. Now whether that sounds like a good thing to you is personal preference.

Aroma is surprisingly soft and subtle of nutty wafer and chocolate malt balls accented by peppery oak.

The medium-light body is quite silky with a fine carbonation, splintering off from the nose as more punchy and biting of both clean oak and moderate char that adds date and cocoa. This continues to progress on into a darker chocolate liqueur character before the paper dry finish brings a warming exhale of Brazil nuts.

As it warms, Blanton's takes hold with it's assertively bold bite, adding a sharper contrast than I'm used to in BM. Still, it's all well in balance, and nothing like the messy fusel burn of actual Blanton's. Here it brings a nice prickly sort of vibration through the entire experience, from start to finish, at times lifting notes of honey bourbon, and even hints of chocolate covered strawberry, which may be due to the fact that Voodoo's dark malt game always seems to express quite a bit more acidity than other big name stouts, at least to me. Once or twice I was also surprised to detect a hint of Scotch in the exhale.

By all means, a very fine brew, but I've actually been a little more impressed by a few of their other releases earlier this year, particularly recent Hot Garbage and Aphotic bottles, and maybe even River Rats and BAPF.