Black Magick - Sazerac Rye (aka Baby Saz)
Voodoo Brewing Co.

 

 

poured from a black-waxed 12oz bottle into a perennial snifter. pours thick and pitch black with a few dark brown swirls. spicy rye, oak, chocolate and some dark fruits on the nose. taste is bittersweet chocolate, rye, oak and faint vanilla. really good. smooth as hell for 13%. thick, full mouthfeel. gloopy and sits on the tongue extra heavy. really good stuff. super thick mouthfeel, tons of barrel and a lot of the ashy, earthy notes i get from voodoo BA stouts are replaced with chocolate and vanilla notes.

 

 

 

Glossy black with a dark tan blanket that clings to the glass in a tall ridge before dropping down to a fine chain.

So intensely concentrated--like a perfect marriage of chocolate ganache and rye whiskey--the barrel imparts cracked black pepper toasted oak with a hint of spiced date. The exhale exhibits those soaked, charred oak trademarks of classic Voodoo barrel aging, though it's cut by a little more cleansing, prickly spice and heat than is typical in these Magicks, refining it well. The smokey characteristics you might typically find are polished out by that spice, while the nose exhibits a faint hint of the sort of milky qualities I detected in the 4 Roses variant so many years ago. As it warms, more black pepper definition adds continuing contrast to the decadence.

The medium to full body contains a fulfilling, nearing firm carbonation that comes to a tingly, semi-dry finish.

Is it better than last year's stellar BTAC variant? I'm not so sure, but my overall number rating appears to say yes, by the finest hair.

Look and smell aren't standout and in fact less exciting than most magicks. Higher perceived ethanol on the smell of this version than probably any other ive had (not a plus).

Taste is more bourbon than beer. Wow. Its like they 50/50 blended black magick and sazerack not aged it in the barrels. Insanely hot. Loads of chocolate. I love this to sip it like bourbon or scotch but don't necessarily want to drink it as a 12oz beer. Can I recork this like a utopias and have 10 more times? I think im gonna try.

Feel HOT

Overall like it.