The Oligarch
Breakside Brewery - NE Dekum

Poured into a snifter at cellar temperature.
L - Poured a dark black with no head.
S - Malty and toasty with a medium amount of bourbon smell and just a hint of hops.
T - A nice balance between malt and hops that ends ups a touch on the sweet side.
F - A little on the thin side for an RIS.
O - A reasonable RIS. Could use more body and more barrel aging. Worth a try.

Bottle at share, this year's batch. Oily black pour, almost no head. Looks like an oil slick. Sweet notes outweigh the roasty, but still has enough of the dark malt bitterness. Pretty solid.

 

$ 16.28 (Including shipping)/22 oz bottle ($ 0.740 /oz) from Tavour, Seattle, WA. Reviewed 5/23/19.
No date other than “SERIES 2019” on the top of the label. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 57 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 62 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Dark brown, translucent.
Body – Dark brown/black, opaque. When held to the light, still opaque.
Head – Large (Maximum 5.2 cm, aggressive center pour), dark tan, low density, shorter than average retention, rapidly diminishing to a two mm crown and thin, spotty partial layer.
Lacing – None. Not unexpected with a 10.3% ABV brew.
Aroma – 3.5 - Weak chocolate, weak roasted malt.
Flavor – 4 - Begins slightly sweet with a bit of “dark fruit” flavor. Ends with an alcohol (10.3% ABV) vapor backwash and some esophageal burning. No hops, no dimethylsulfide, no diacetyl.
Palate – 3.75 – Full, syrupy, soft to almost lively carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 3.5 – Not particularly photogenic or aromatic. The palate and flavor, however, work well for THIS RIS. One and done.

 

 

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

This smells like sticky sweet chocolate, vanilla, coffee cream, oak, and caramel.

This is sweet and decadent, without any "adjuncts" added. There's loads of sweet chocolate and a decent amount of vanilla, too, with a touch of oak and bourbon to balance it slightly. There's some coffee and caramel, too. It's decadent and works quite well.

This is medium bodied, sticky and creamy, with a good level of drinkability despite the heft.

Breakside almost always nails these big beers, and this is no exception.

 

 

Dark appearance with slight white head. Slightly sweet malt aroma. Taste is a smooth sweet malt without any aftertaste.

Poured from fridge temp. Pours motor oil black with quickly disappearing head. Nose is strong bourbon, which I love. Toffee, chocolate, vanilla, an lactose. Taste is amazing. Bourbon, dark fruit, toffee, chocolate, vanilla, and milk. Mouthfeel is thick and creamy. Overall, a phenomenal BA stout.

Thanks to ficklenicholas for this 22 oz. bottle which, if I were to guess, is closing in on its 2 ½ year birthday. Split with my wife.

The pour is dark. The nose is light bourbon, sweetness, touch of chocolate. Spare.

The Oligarch sounds excellent on the label but falls to mediocrity on the tongue. Big dark fruits up front, which isn’t my favorite taste to go along with lots of sweet malt & sprinkles of chocolate. Mid-palate brings a moderate hit of bourbon & a strange acidity that doesn’t foreshadow infection, but seems to be a pharmaceutical side effect of the roast. End in more stone fruit. Half the bomber will be plenty.

Roast doesn’t seem quite right & unfortunately, fruity stouts don’t hammer my wheelhouse. Mediocre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance - Pours jet black with cola brown edging and a cocoa colored, quarter finger head. Fair retention, then dissipates to a mostly barren surface. No lacing.

Smell - Milk chocolate aroma, with a hint of coffee and caramel. Slight tartness. Mild bourbon character sits beneath.

Taste - Follows the nose. Predominant notes of chocolate milk with lesser smoke and an odd-but-pleasant mild tartness. A hint of caramel and a touch of malt roast. Fair woodiness hits near the finish. Tartness builds in the finish, along with fair warmth from the booze.

Mouthfeel - Medium-bodied with low carbonation. Slightly sticky texture, with a dry, warming finish.

Overall - Kind of an odd bird, but flavorful and unique. It could have definitely used more dark, roasted depth to compliment the sweeter, mildly sour character. Not much need for aging; ready to drink as is. I like it a lot but for the price, I think I'd pass on buying it again.

 

 

 

L: dark, slight lace, slight head. Nothing special.

S: amazing bourbon smell. Slight chocolate and vanilla. A small malt hint.

T: tastes just like the smell. A little more malt presence than it smells. Great tasting beer.

F: creamy and smooth. Like others have said it's a little thin compared to other RIS.

O: great beer. If you like big bourbon taste you will love this. I'm curious what this would be like with a year on it.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours pitch black, opaque in the glass with a two finger brown head with great retention and lots of lacing. Aroma dominated by bourbon, with sweet dark toasted malt and a hint of vanilla. Flavor is mild dark toasted malt, lots of bourbon, hints of chocolate and vanilla in a slightly tart and vinous finish with more classic malt flavors around the edges. Body is somewhat thin for an imperial stout; medium bodied with little creaminess. A stout with big bourbon character. The malt is not quite up to Russian imperial level; no indication that this was the intent from the bottle or brewery. Needs a little more deep maltiness to support the robust bourbon and fruit flavors in the finish. A good bourbon stout, but needs a little more robust malt support.