Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Heavy Boots Of Lead
SingleCut Beersmiths

Here goes nothing... been holding on to this bottle for at least a year, and it's about 22 months old now, so I figured it would be a good time to crack it. I've had rye whiskey HBOL before, but only on tap at a stout fest that I admittedly don't really remember, so it should be fun to jog my nonexistent memory a little here. Let's hope this aged gracefully!

Pour is, well, scary. I have well-elucidated feelings about terrifyingly-deep stout pours in past reviews, so this may seem a little bit like déjà vu to those who read my reviews (are there people like that? One has to wonder...), but this is really intimidating upon first pour. Four, maybe even five fingers of head sitting atop a deep black liquid. And the foam's color is just about the darkest shade of consistent brown that I've seen outside of some of the barrel-aged Evil Twin Biscotti/EMJ varieties I've had the luxury to enjoy and write about. Decent lace and great legs. Semi-obscured surface with a long lasting retention. I'm into it, for sure. For suuuure.

The nose initially led me to believe this would be a bit infected or funky or something not-quite-right, but I think the rye barrel aging just really took this one over. Not a bad thing at all, but I had to let the beer breathe for five or so minutes before approaching it normally. Once I did, however, I was greeted with intense tannins, drizzled milk chocolate fudginess and supreme rye spice. Wow, this is deeeefinitely one of the most rye-forward barrel aged beers I've had. Granted, rye whiskey is a rarer barrel than bourbon for obvious reasons relating to the way bourbon is produced, but I'm just blown away by how characterful this one is. Deep caraway and slight earthiness with strong pumpernickel and even anise notes. Some notes of plum and black cherry with a bit of earthy tobacco and more spiciness. Definite ethanol heat, but it's a little less than I thought it'd be. Wow, I'm in for a treat here, I can tell!

Chocolate, rye whiskey, date and plum on the palate with soft tannins from the whiskey barrel aging. The vanilla from the original beer gets a little lost here, I must say... I know it's a volatile flavor but it doesn't even assist with the barrel flavor at all. It just seems to be almost totally overridden by the base beer and its subsequent aging. Honestly, I'm fine with that because barrel tannins can somewhat replace vanilla flavor in a sense anyway, but it's still weird to drink a beer that had such an expressive vanilla element in the base and not taste that aspect at all. Makes me kind of wonder what the point of still calling this the same beer is if one of the main elements gets lost due to barrel-aging. Anyway, this is very fruity on the tongue, with some strong port wine flavors and super spicy rye whiskey in the finish. Black pepper, anise and dates in the finish. Very enjoyable as a sipper. Wish it were a little roastier and less dark fruit forward, but that may be a personal thing.

Feel is smooth and well-rounded with a slight bit of carbonation poking through here and there. About as much age as I'd want to put on this one, to be honest. Glad I pulled it out tonight... just seemed right for some reason, and my intuition was correct. Doubtful that this would get any better with any more time on it. If anything, it might've been a teensy bit better 6 or 7 months ago, but I'm just thankful to experience it when I did.

 

 

Pours a thick, inky brown with cocoa-powder head that fizzes away quickly to a long-lasting ring around the glass. Full-bodied and luxuriously smooth on the tongue, but with a nice rye kick from the barrel treatment. I was just on a plane so my sinus pressure is wonky, but I still get a goodly amount of baker's chocolate, nougat, and panela. I have not had the regular version of Heavy Boots of Lead, but I'm digging this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours black with a half inch mocha head that dissipated quickly and left little lacing. Smells of dark chocolate, coffee, whiskey and roasted malts. Flavor follows the nose with additional notes of vanilla, slight char, dark fruits and a hint of lactose sweetness. Full bodied, creamy mouth feel, light carbonation but just right for the style and finishes slightly dry. 11% ABV is really dangerously unnoticeable.