Kremlin Russian Imperial Stout - Bourbon Barrel Aged
House of Brews

Same bottle as the non-barreled version, except for an easy-to-miss stamp indicating its barrel aging. Also, it sells at the same price. So that's awesome.

Generally black with magenta glints around the short stack of sandstone froth.
It fills the nose with wafts of currants, vanilla, caramel, espresso, charred oak, and cocoa. Deeper inhalations thin out a bit, but it presents as though there is a fair amount of depth.
Raspberry syrup greet the tongue. Then comes scrapings of roast, anise, and caramel. The barrel adds coconut cream, black cherry, vanilla, and buttery oak. The problem is- at least the first problem- is that it's completely front-loaded. As the oak fades, there's just a brown sugar sweetness to guide this into the esophagus, ushered by a bit of tart black cherry. post-swallow.
It's largest flaw is a general lack of girth. This flows too readily down the gullet without a sticky moment to make a person think about the time it has spent aging into its current form. The final, yeast-rich pour alleviates it a little, the yeast slurry brings some girth, making the last glass from the bombed the best one, But this need to be heftier from the jump. This ticks all the required boxes for a sought-after bourbon barrel aged imperial stout, except for mouthfeel.
I've had previous incantations of it in the tasting room at House of Brews and couldn't wait to finally get a bomber. I guess I'm a little out in the cold because I know how good it can be. Maybe the next bottles will disprove my initial sentiments: tasty, but thin and shallow and ultimately unfulfilling.