Chicago Drive-By
Pike 51 Brewing Company

22 ounce bottle into snifter, 2017 vintage. Pours opaque pitch black color with a 1 finger dense and rocky tan head with great retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, vanilla, cream, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, coconut, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, oak char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Minimal booze in the aromas as it warms. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, lactose, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, vanilla, cream, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, coconut, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, oak char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Mild hop/char bitterness; and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, vanilla, cream, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, dark bread/crust, licorice, molasses, coconut, dark fruit, smoke, oak char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, lactose, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a nice roast/hop bitter/sweet, and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with zero cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/roast bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 14.6%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an awesome barrel aged imperial milk stout. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, lactose, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mildly bitter/tannic/drying finish; great soft/silky feel. Awesome balance of rich malts, lactose, and bourbon barrel presence/integration; mild earthy hops and fruity yeast. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example as expected.