Forward Observer: Livernois Barrel Project
Axle Brewing Company

500 ml bottle into snifter, bottled in 6/2018. Pours dense pitch black color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy tan head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, molasses, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, and dark bread; with light notes of coconut, marshmallow, fudge, licorice, smoke, char, sherry, leather, tobacco, herbal, and yeast/roast/oaky earthiness. Touch of booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel notes; with great strength. Taste of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, molasses, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, and dark bread; with light notes of coconut, marshmallow, fudge, licorice, smoke, char, sherry, leather, tobacco, herbal, and yeast/roast/oaky earthiness. Mild herbal/roast/char bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, molasses, dark fruit, cherry, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, dark bread, light smoke/char, leather, tobacco, sherry, herbal, and yeast/roast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a nice roasted bitter/sweet and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/roast bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mild warmth of 10.8%, with zero barrel booze lingering after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic barrel aged imperial oatmeal stout! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the big ABV, with the mildly bitter/tannic/drying finish. Fantastic rich malt complexity with complementing fruity yeast; and perfect barrel integration. Not overly bitter, roasty, or tannic. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing style example. Not as amazing as Wolf Tone, but still exceptional.