Whiskey Barrel-Aged Dark Saison
Blindman Brewing

Couple years or more of age on this.....
Pours a solid very dark brown with finger of creamy beige head.
The aroma starts wth notes of the whiskey, oaky but with caramel malts eschewing smells of brown sugar and toffee - slightly yeasty.
Tastes of sweet bready caramel malt, again the whiskey and barrel are evident with a touch of booziness, and a fermented fruitiness that imparts a vinous flavour. Floral hops and yeast round out.
Medium mouthfeel with prickly carbonation - smooth with whiskey barrel warmth and the fruity vinous finish.

500ml bottle - their Saison Lacombe Noir, aged for an unspecified amount of time in a used Wyoming Whiskey barrel, for which there is a plethora of information about its heritage on the label. Keg n Cork in Edmonton is thanked, for what I presume was sourcing the wood in the first place.

This beer pours a fairly solid black, with some prominent amber basal edges, and three fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat creamy beige head, which leaves some calving iceberg pattern lace around the glass as it slowly but surely abates.

It smells strongly of American whiskey (oak, mixed-grain alcohol, and vanilla), grainy and doughy caramel malt, a bit of wet char, subtle earthy yeast notes, a muddled dark stone fruitiness, and very understated leafy, musty, and floral noble hop bitters. The taste is lightly roasted, bready and doughy caramel malt, a still heady 'Bourbon' booziness (the same essences from the nose), some gently phenolic yeastiness, bruised apples and pears, ethereal earthy spice, and more rather tame musty, weedy, and floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite restrained in its inert-seeming frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and mostly smooth, as the barrel and yeast astringencies take things down a notch or so here. It finishes off-dry, the malt, wood, fruit, and yeast esters all landing together, as such.

Overall - this is indeed a pretty well-made version of the style, with the whiskey character stronger in the aroma than in the flavour, but s'all good, man. Available only at the brewery and the aforementioned liquor store, so get some while you can! Also, they've apparently passed the barrel on to their neighbours, Old Prairie Sentinel Distillery - cool.