Imperial Stout Kentucky Bourbon
Private Landbrauerei Schönram

 

I bought this 0.33l bottle at Liebick near München during my visit there in mid/late September 2015. Enjoyed it back home in The 'Zebo on 06OCT15. Had a best-by date on it of 10DEC29. Yes, 2029! Label also noted that it had sat "14 Monate im Holzfaß", or 14 months in the barrel....

Poured into a small tulip, it was dark and dense, an opaque black hole of bier. The head was beige, fine but wispy, and ebbed quickly. Had nice lace sticking in the glass, though. Aroma was of dark fruit - raisins and dates - plus some choco with bourbon overtones. Mmmm! It was a chewy bier, medium-plus for body, and silky slick going down.

Flavor had a bit of molasses and licorice leading off. Throw in some dark choco with a smidge of bitterness. Then it was more raisins, figs and currants... all with the bourbon action lurking close by. The bourbon is not overpowering, just subtle enough to really add to the flavor. And the licorice lingered a bit as some earthy, tobacco-like hopping rounded out the warming finish. A very solid RIS! Prosit!!

4.43/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

1783

L:
-pours the darkest of brown with no light coming through and a medium,creamy,khaki head
S:
-coffee,vanilla,toffee,chocolate,mocha,bourbon,molasses,coconut
T:
-chocolate,toast,coffee,oak,mocha,prunes,vanilla
F:
-medium carbonation (Overcarbonated)
-medium to full body
-slight alcohol warmth

Pours a completely black color with small head, leaving a spider web lacing in the glass.

Unfolds huge aromas of chocolate, toffee, vanilla and hints of coffee, wrapped up by slightly burning, wooden bourbon. Bourbon blends incredibly well into the earthy, complex maltiness, adding a smooth vanilla impression with just the right amount of heat to it. To be honest, this reminds me of Bourbon County, as it got an incredibly complex, perfectly balanced nose.

Begins with milk chocolate among toffeeish, slightly glazed malts, together with a supersmooth creaminess. Coffee adds a decent amount of bitterness, leading to an even sweeter molasses impact as a counterpart, evolving from the malts, resulting in a gentle, fiery peak. This bourbon bite comes along with lots of old, dusty wood as well as unsweetened vanilla and hides its alcoholic presence incredibly well. No doubts about it, you get a somewhat boozy burn, which then gets coated up into milk chocolate, which is filled with heated toffee, very rich, sweet and smooth.

Finishes with a slightly bitter coffee bean ending, bringing back a decent alcohol dryness. It drinks throughout extremely smooth and creamy with a fantastic balance, while its alcoholic peak doesnt stand out too much, in comparison to other stouts with higher abv, which I find very well fitting for this beer.