Buffalo Trace Barrel Aged Double Shot Total Eclipse
Maumee Bay Brewing Company

 

L: A thick, inky, nearly black dark brown with a pillow of chocolate brown head that makes a solid cap and rests at a finger for the duration, dropping good lacing.
S & T: Lots of chocolaty, almost fudgy notes with plenty of vanilla and dry woods to even out the sweetness. Roast is a part of it without drying or adding astringency, complimenting a fresh coffee note all the way through that doesn't overtake the rest by any means. Thick and heavy on the malts, lots of chocolate and toffee continues to come through with a brown sugar / molasses note pulling into the middle-end. Heat is not excessive and only accentuates the extremely rich aroma and flavor. Some hops show for balance, giving a bit of earth and leaf to counter the sweetness and deepen it even further. Somewhere between semi-dry and semi-sweet but generally leaning sweeter, the hops and coffee do keep it from cloying into the finish.
F: The alcohol doesn't thin this big-bodied beauty at all. It flows rich and smooth in a heavy body that isn't destructively heavy and doesn't sit too hard. It's a sipper, for sure, but one that's hard to put down.