Hell
St Andrews Brewing Company

epic beer, my favorite from our visit to their downtown location, where they dont actually make beer, but serve it up, great little spot, chill and low key, had fun drinking through their lineup in here. this is a not too strong imperial stout aged ten months in peated whiskey barrels, glenturret 7 year to be exact, and this is truly special. i love how cohesive the peat and the oak and the dark grains are, this isnt forced, isnt huge for no reason, and isnt overdone, its super earthy and complex and magically well refined. near black in the glass, short deep mocha colored head on it settling back to little patches before too long, leggy but not insanely viscous, i love this abv for this too. the aroma is killer, rich earthy intensity, peat all through it, licorice and good espresso and burnt wood, nuances of molasses and maple and vanilla, very woody, not particularly alcoholic, sweet in a cool way with all the obvious bitterness too, faint anise, smoke, and coal, wow. the flavor is just as good, would love to try this whiskey on its own as it seems to really be something great in this beer, wood all through it, nice low end with all the roast, char and peat but offset by an almost bran muffin malty middle, dark cocoa, black tea, treacle, brown sugar, vanilla, insane depth, the peat is great, there is nice bitterness in this, and the body is silky and long, again not real boozy or anything and i love that in a big stout, unexpectedly refined and restrained and yet so unique to the point of being basically one of a kind. insanely good, their best and easily most ambitious brew i encountered while i was in scotland, expert use of the the barrel here, but a great base beer that should not be underestimated in its own right, this was superb!