Enemy of the Sun
Standard Brewing

 

Black with hints of brown in the body, brown ring. Charcoal, huge peat, earth, licorice, and smoke in the nose, very concerning that bourbon is barely there if at all. Ok taste balances out more thankfully, huge peat still there, but bourbon, molasses, huge tobacco, smoke, licorice, leather, a touch of dark chocolate and wood all work together. Grassy damp earth finishes with peat and caramel, a neat voyage of a sip. VERY robust, warm, chewy, earthy, smoky, and thick. Glad the nose didn't tell the tale

Appearance: poured thick with no translucence. About an inch if head, but it quickly disappeared.

Smell: kinda nice, it's very bourbon forward at the nose with notes of dark bittersweet chocolate. Very rich and robust.

Taste: really an impressive amount of whiskey without lending too much heat or booze. There's a subtle burnt caramel sweetness of the bourbon rounded out by the dark sweet chocolate. As it warmed up, there was notes of peat, just enough that it doesn't overwhelm the palate. Pretty awesome actually.

Mouthfeel: full bodied with no heat.

Overall: I absolutely love the concept of incorporating peated whiskey. I don't know of any breweries that does this. A nice break from the pastry stouts craze yet still using its creativity to expand to new flavors.

Look: Thick, inky black. Over two fingers of chocolate milk-colored head with decent retention.

Smell: Milk chocolate, sweet coffee, molasses. Slightly metallic.

Taste: Sweet mocha with a slight roast bitterness and earthy hops. Mildly bitter without a very lingering aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, with very mild carbonation.

Overall: It's hard to identify the barrel aging in here, but it's still a perfectly good imperial stout.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin brown head that dissipates to patches with slight lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, light cocoa, whiskey and peat; an unusual fruity note like rum, which smells great but was unexpected. Flavor is mild dark toasted malt, cocoa, a little caramel, light smoke, whiskey and oak. Lingering whiskey and peat character; a bit boozy. Medium bodied with light creaminess. An interesting barreled stout. The malt is very mellow and somewhat subdued, but still supports the barrel notes quite well. There are vague fruit notes that would have left me thinking there were sherry or rum barrels involved, but that is not apparently the case. The extra faint flavors are quite pleasant and add some more character to the overall profile. I'm intrigued by how the malt seems to be supportive, but gets out of the way of the barrel flavors. Interesting. I like this one.