Dragon's Milk Reserve - Triple Mash
New Holland Brewing Company

5/24/24 - (Bottle - Home) (Chicago, IL) - Bottle Notes: Purchased from Beer on the Wall 5/22/24 for $7.40 at store temperature, refrigerated upon returning home until opening. 12 oz bottled 2/5/24 @13:36. 18.7% ABV, Triple Mash Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout. 2024 Limited Release. brewed and bottled by New Holland Brewing Company, Holland, Michigan.

Dragon's Milk Triple Mash is the ultimate indulgence, the result of years of honing technique and pushing the limits of what a stout can be. Aged for one year in hand-selected bourbon barrels, the flavor notes of Dragon's Milk - chocolate, roasted malt, vanilla and oak - are all amplified in a way that allows for balance and refinement to shine through.

Appearance: Pitch black pour, light white tan bubbly head lingers a few minutes before settling as bubbles around the rim and top of base. Carbonation bubbles fine plus. 4.25

Aroma: After 30 minutes of warming, getting a nice bourbon barrel oak, smooth to sweet bourbon, sweet and roast malt, mild in strength and enticing. 4.0

Taste: Taste is much stronger than the aroma, yielding a powerful sweet and decadent milk chocolate, chocolate fudge, a sustained but balanced vanilla. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Let this warm a bit and the barrel is strong from go, though smooth. Feels and is very strong, consistent with the heavy ABV. Over time, it's mostly bourbon, and the base is rendered AWOL to barely there. Smooth strong bourbon finish. 4.0

Overall: The beer is as advertised. Can't recall by memory such a strong barrel forward beer that still has a nice base noticed until this is very warm. If you are looking for a near bourbon experience, this will give you a nice ride. If you are looking for more blended stout / bourbon treatment, order the regular or slightly higher ABV versions. I'm glad I picked this up and I'm enjoying, but these are very strong for anything but an occasional selection on my end. 4.25

Just Really Really Good stuff.

12 oz. Bottle
2026 Vintage

WOW! 17% ABV

Poured into a Westy glass a very nice dark brown/black color, very nice carbonation, with a very nice thick/creamy one-finger tan head, which also leaves a very nice huge oil slick and some pretty nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is very nice, malty, hoppy, with a very nice touch of chocolate/toffee, very nice dark fruit complex (plums, cherries, figs, dates, grapes), bourbon, oak, vanilla, licorice. The taste is very nice, malty, hoppy, very nice touch of chocolate, toffee, very nice dark fruit complex (plums, cherries, figs, dates, grapes), bourbon, very nice oakyness, vanilla, licorice. Full Body, ABV is hidden very nicely, this is a very tasty complex brew. Overall, definitely worth checking out, very nice.

Gotta give the love to this one. Even though the ABV is super high this is relatively smooth drinking.
Pours a dark brown but not totally opaque. Tane head.
Sweet on the nose like chocolate and bourbon. Taste was similar to nose with some burnt caramel flavors.
Nice warmth from ABV, definitely a sipper

A little too far over the top for me.
Doubling down on ABV, barrel aging, attack and finnish seems just for the sake of doing it rather than to make something super enjoyable.

Classic Dragon's Milk enhanced to an almost wine/cognac flavor

Not something I would ever get for myself, but was thrilled to receive this as a gift from my coworker ... Does not smell or taste nearly as boozy as it really is ... Super smooth and delicious ... But watch out!

This is one-of-a-kind beers that gives the flavors you expect and can taste them all separately & they are not masked by the high alcohol content. Excellent sipping beer/liquor, the ABV puts it in that category almost. 2026 Vintage

 

 

 

Whoa. Confused by the high scores on this one. I may have even been generous with mine. It tasted like they took a decent stout base and dumped 2 shots of vodka into each bottle. It was thin, highly and unpleasantly boozy. No barrel, just booze. Hard to drink. I may need to lower my score here.

No bottle date. 17%! Seven-TEEN-percent?!? Low carbonation; good mouthfeel; a lighter but complex malty/roasty/choco/javaish/slightly charred flavor + a nice but understated bourbony/whisky taste & an astonishingly quick-fading but warming backend.

2026 vintage. Poured from 12 oz bottle into snifter.
A: Pours an extremely dark brown hue with a 2 inch bubbly dark tan head that recedes to a thin skim.
S: Smooth dark chocolate, sweet molasses, creamy vanilla, oak, and sweet bourbon.
T: Smooth dark chocolate and creamy vanilla hit first, then sweet bourbon, roasted soft oak, crème brûlée, and a hint of molasses and marshmallow. A touch of dark roast coffee in the finish.
M: Medium heavy body. Layers of dark sweetness. Soft and slightly creamy feel with mild roasted bitterness. Lingers nicely on the palate. The high ABV is extremely well hidden.
D: A lovely winter sipper. Excellent variation on the base beer.

botle at share 2025 vintage

 

 

I've been sitting on a few bottles of this one for a while, but this is the first time I've had this one. It is a seriously black and powerful beer. The head is a slim, tan, wispy film. The aroma is wildly boozy....intense brandy/whiskey-like scents, dark malt and grain, roasted coffee notes. Wow. Thick, syrupy, bitter, sweet up front, then warmth. Molasses. Incredible flavors and extreme experience. This is an incredible and extraordinary beer.

Sampling a cellar temp 12 oz bottle 2020 vintage. the bottle was sent to me in a trade a few years ago. Bottle has been in my cellar since then.
Beer pours a rich cola brown, lighter in color than I would have guessed, it rests darker in my glass with no light passing through.
A fizzy beige head of 0.5 cm foams up and quickly fades to a thin edge layer and some small , spinning islands in the center of my glass.
Aroma is some dark chocolate brownie, but mostly covered by bourbon notes and a bit of molasses. No hop character on the nose. Booze is fairly well hidden for 17% , not fusol or really peppery on the nose. Fairly surprising for the lack of fusol hits.
First sip reveals a medium body and fine tingly carbonation and fairly smooth mouthfeel. Wooo, after the swallow, there is the booze. It warms my belly for a bit after each sip and swallow!
Flavor is some dark fudge and roasted malt mixing with a little charred wood and some sweeter bourbon. Never any hop character. Booze is warm but there isnt much peppery bite attached to the heat. Ive got to be careful as the beer drinks a little easy even with the heat on the finish. Fun, big beer!