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Whistle Punk Brewing Company

An aggressive pour show a dark cola brown beer as it enters the glass, then settles as nearly black with a sudsy tan head that quickly evacuates the premises. The nose is rife with coconut, oak, and more than a bit of booze. There’s also a dark toffee note and a bit of vanilla.

The taste is led by the coconut, with a rich vanilla flavor and more than a little toffee. The mouthfeel is a little lighter than I would’ve expected with an 11.6% ABV beer, but this is still a fun beer to drink. I’d be interested to see how this ages, because I think it would be in world class range, IMHO.

16oz can purchased at the Whistle Punk taproom. Apparently, it won't be going on tap until later in December. It's a blend of a 24 month bourbon barrel aged Wee Heavy and a Russian Imperial Stout that was conditioned on toasted coconut.

Poured into my new big Fremont snifter (thanks, Nik), this was a dark and slightly reddish brown color, almost opaque. Slightly more reddish looking when held up to light, but the change was very minor. Thin, khaki colored head.

Smells like a boozy, bourbon-y Wee Heavy. There's a bit of sweetness from the BBA and from the coconut as well.

A hot one. Big, boozy bourbon flavor and caramelish and brown sugary maltiness. Bourbon Barrel aging is pretty complimentary to a Wee Heavy, so it's kinda difficult to find the seam between the two. As for the RIS portion of this beer, I cannot detect it at all, and if it wasn't mentioned on the can label I'd have no idea it was even a thing. As it warms, the barrels pretty much take over altogether.

Full bodied but slightly watery mouth feel.

Pretty good, but I feel like this is a good idea that might have benefited from being laid down after being canned or kegged for a while. I'm seriously considering picking up another can and setting it aside for a year or two. It might be a bit more mellow by then.