Imperial Oatmeal Stout - Bootlegger Barrel Series American Oak Bourbon
Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro

This is the bourbon barrel cousin of the whiskey barrel version I reviewed in May 2017. Pour is the same jet black pour with the same tan head and just a smidge of light leaking at the edges.

Aromas are dark chocolate, the barrel, and stone fruit. A little thin, but more than covered in the taste - the chocolate is bigger, the barrel is more pronounced, and the stone fruit has a bite.

I loved the first one of these I had, and I love this iteration, too.

Appearance (4/5) — A jet black beer flows out of the bottle into the glass, there is no semblance of a head here, merely just a thin film that settles and leaves behind some oily residue down the inside of the glass with each sip. Appears somewhat syrupy and heavy in the glass. A nice deep black beer, with very little light passing through the edges when held up to the light.

Aroma (4.5/5) — Dominated initially by American White Oak, followed by lightly sweet vanilla notes. As it warms it picks up some huge bittersweet chocolate notes, think of powdered bakers chocolate, or slowly melting a cauldron of semi-sweet chocolate. Not overly sweet though, there is a resounding and much needed Bourbon kick of spice and dryness, notes of cinnamon bark and charred oak add some nice bitterness.

Taste (4.5/5) — A boozy, chocolaty, semi-sweet, viscous, fulfilling chorus of flavors here. Initially I got a bitter and chewy licorice component that went undetected on the nose. There is the familiar vanilla sweetness as well as a charred oak foundation that really rounds things out. As it warms the chocolate aspect really hits its stride, loads of semi-sweet and dark chocolate flavor components balanced upon a chewy, dry, and slightly cinnamon spiced Bourbon base.

Mouthfeel (4/5) — Full bodied, as expected. Carbonation is quite low, but that’s alright. This is a stick to your ribs fulfilling beer. Hell, I opened this on Saturday and I am enjoying the last pour of it tonight, days later. A little goes a long way, but it is not overpowering, everything is in balance and comes together.

Overall (4.5/5) — This was fantastic, and honestly exceeded my expectations. I didn’t get to try any of the Hungarian Oak Aged variants (yet), but this Bourbon Barrel Imperial Oatmeal Stout was very well done, kudos Boundary!