Most Most Premium Rye Barrel Aged
Gigantic Brewing Company

2022 vintage. Drank 7/14/23.
Pour is jet black - i mean, motor oil black. dense deep cinnamon head that fades quickly
Nose is dark roasted malts, rye bourbon, molasses
Taste is rye bourbon, dark fruits, hints of smoked malt, dark chocolate, dark roasted malt.
Mouthfeel is dense, thick, and creamy - all without being overly sweet and cloying. very nice.

Poured on the lighter side, but I’m not sure the bubbles that struggled to break the surface would’ve be that much more forthcoming with a stronger push. This lack of carbonation carried to the feel, making it the biggest detractor from this otherwise solid BA RIS.

Oily legs stick to the glass on the swirl used to bring out aromas, but the bubbles remain reticent. Regardless, the nose is familiar, with a lightly stale damp wood backing the more anticipated sweet barrel notes atop fig, date, and bakers chocolate.

Taste has a light tang that could be the barrel, and again is familiar. Back to the tang, it has enough force to evoke a not-too-tart cherry impression. Dark fruits backfill this. Overall, this beer has the needle stick in the middle, it has the basics of a barrel-aged stout all checked, leaning a little bit on the barrel side of balanced.

 

 

Cellared a year. Midnight black pour with a brown cap that eventually settles into a ring. Great rye whiskey leading the earthy nose, with oak, dark chocolate, faint char and molasses. Taste starts with rye, char, earth and oak up front, then a sweeter dark chocolate, dark fruit, and a hint of caramel wave comes through, before finishing with booze. Rye helps thicken the body a bit, still on the lighter side of a RIS, but more rugged and boozy, with a sneaky sweet malt middle feel. Liked this more than the bourbon version

 

A: The beer is jet black in color. It poured with a quarter finger high tan colored head that quickly died down, leaving some small patches of bubbles on the surface and a narrow collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of dark and chocolate malts are present in the nose along with notes of bourbon.
T: The taste follows the smell, except that the bourbon flavors are stronger and have slight bits of spicy notes from the rye.
M: It feels a bit more than medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation. The bourbon lends some warming to the mouthfeel.
O: I found this stout to be remarkable drinkable considering its strength.

Serving type: bottle

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a nearly black, appearing opaque black in the glass with a one finger brown head with great retention and nice lacing; looks nice. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, rye whiskey, vanilla, hints of plum; rather boozy. Flavor is semi-sweet dark toasted malt, vanilla, milk chocolate, rye and bourbon whiskey, dried plums, raisins and light stone fruit. Rye whiskey finish, a bit hot. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Big, bold barreling character in this stout. It's been a long time since I've had the regular bourbon variety of this, but this seems to have a little more body depth. Very similar chocolate dark malt and dried fruit flavors, which may come from the bourbon barrel, but add a nice dimension, like a blended stout with a barleywine. The balance is good, but the barreling challenges the stout base to its limits, giving this a bit of a hot finish. The flavors are all great, though with a light rye character interacting with the more traditional bourbon. I'm really liking the chocolatey fruit finish. Glad I snagged this and its Scotch brethren. It might be a lucky result of our partial shut-down; I've missed the few variant bottles of MM Premium the made it to Washington in the past years and am glad to have had a chance to try this.