For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls (2016)
Pike 51 Brewing Company

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled in 10/2016. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger dense and rocky tan head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, orange peel, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, biscuit, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of licorice, anise, brandy, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, spices, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, orange peel, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, biscuit, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of licorice, anise, brandy, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Light herbal, grassy, roast, char bitterness; bourbon/oak tannin, cinnamon, clove spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, orange peel, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, biscuit, dark/brown bread, licorice, anise, brandy, dark fruit, smoke, 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, spices, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a great roast/hop bitter/sweet, and bourbon/oak/spiciness balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/roast bitterness and bourbon/oak/cinnamon spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 13.9%, with zero lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an awesome barrel aged spiced imperial stout. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, spices, 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 feel. Awesomely balanced between super rich malts, spices, and bourbon barrel presence/integration; with light fruity yeast and earthy hops. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive experimental style example. Not overwhelming on any aspect.