Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Aged Plead The 5th

Bourbon Barrel aged Plead The 5th
Dark Horse Brewing Company
Bourbon Barrel aged Russian Imperial Stout
Limited release, mostly for events. Details like ABV missing.
Reviewed from a small sample, poured on tap, at Heritage Liquor's annual Beer Geek Christmas.

Pours pitch black with a dark brown bubbly collar. Tough to comment on retention and lacing but looks like a classic barrel aged stout. Excellent aroma, full of vanilla and chocolate notes with plenty of sweetness, but no harsh alcohol. Bourbon is certainly present, and dominates the aroma but only in good ways.

Taste is similar to aroma with bourbon shining, bringing a great oak-vanilla element to taste and enhancing the chocolate. Bittersweet with coffee like acidity that was absent in the nose, and seems a little over the top. Finishes clean and bitter. The body is a little thin for my liking and carbonation a tad higher. If this is actually 14% ABV, it drinks amazingly easy!

One of the best examples of Bourbon Barrel aged beers in the sense that Barrel aging has made an otherwise average RIS excellent! Do not pass it up if you ever get the chance to try it!

Scores:
Appearance 5/5; Aroma 4.5/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 4/5; Drinkability 4.5/5