Heights
Wax Wings Brewing Company

2005 bottling

Appearance: Pours a viscous dirty motor oil color with no head or lacing; leggy

Smell: Dark chocolate and cherry dominate, with coconut and hints of Bourbon and vanilla

Taste: Dark chocolate syrup and chocolate covered cherry with coconut forward; after the swallow, some Bourbon emerges but it is not dominant; oak and vanilla in the finish, as well

Mouthfeel: Syrupy with no carbonation; slight warmth in the gullet

Overall: I like a full bodied stout but this is over the top syrupy; the flavor is great, though, and reminds me of the Cherry Ripe candy bars I used to get when I lived in Australia

A - Pours a deep dark brown with a very thin tan head. Light amount of oily lacin*.

S - Aroma chocolate, dark cherries, plums and coconut.

T - The taste is milk chocolate, vanilla, caramel, ripe dark fruits and finishing with some nice barrel heat.

M - Full body with medium carbonation. Syrupy mouthfeel with a slick dry finish.

O -Really well done. Wax Wings never disappoints with their barrel program.

2024-12-30
500ml black waxed bottle served in a large snifter. 2023 vintage. Got it from @ovaltine in NBS BIF #18.

Pours dark brown, almost black, slow to raise a tan colored head, but the head settles into a thick, coarse ring and a light dusting fairly quickly. Smell is boozy molasses and vanilla and bourbon, something coconutty. Lots of chocolate.

Taste is rich, syrupy chocolate, very sweet, sweetness masks the booze to a pretty significant extent. Coconut also noticeable, tons of chocolate syrup.

Mouthfeel is thick, smooth, a little creamy. Overall, very nice.

 

poured from a black-waxed 500mL bottle into a perennial snifter. pours a see-through dark brown but settles in the glass lighter black with see-through brown edges. baker’s chocolate, molasses, bourbon and oak on the nose. taste mostly follows. burnt roasted coffee, bitter chocolate, bourbon. fairly thick and full mouthfeel. kind of sticky. pretty decent. the barrel is there but it’s well integrated and balanced. doesn’t overpower but the base stout shows its flaws. not a bad beer by any means but lacks a little depth.

Pours a dark cola brown and settles onyx black in the glass with a sudsy mocha colored head that is surprisingly resilient. Beautiful imperial stout. The nose is an amalgamation of rich toffee and milk chocolate, oak (via the barrel), and stone fruit (tart plums and dark cherries).

Wow. Double wow.

The taste is led by that almost candy-like chocolate and toffee flavor, which reminds me of Heath bars, which I loved growing up, so I’m already. Then you pile on the oak, tart plums, and dark cherries, then tie the knot with a nice warming bourbon flavor at the back of the palate, and you have a scarily drinkable 15% ABV beer.

Especially when you toss in a rich, decadent mouthfeel that paints the palate in imperial stout goodness. A masterpiece of a BA imperial stout, IMHO.