Here's a fun bottle I picked up on Black Friday at the Nelson's Green Brier Distillery in Nashville. After dumping barrels of their (assuming sourced MGP) product, the Nelsons sent the empty barrels over to a local brewery called Blackstone who used them to make their Black Belle imperial stout. After Blackstone was finished with the barrels, they were sent back to Belle Meade who then finished some of their bourbon in these now twice used casks. Having read good things about at least one previous cask of Black Belle and it being a holiday weekend I was feeling vicarious enough to take a chance.
Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Imperial Stout Casks; No Age Statement; 48.5% ABV; Cask 4171; $100
Nose: Wafts of your typical bourbon scents, especially typical MGP bourbon but also a lot of dark chocolate and malty cocoa. The nose is really nice.
Taste: Starts off like your typical MGP bourbon but quickly morphs into a torrent of dark chocolate, espresso, and the fruity notes you glean in really good coffee. Those atypical notes start in the mid palate and ride heavily through the finish. It's got a bit of the malty barley grain taste of a stout beer in the finish but the thing that strikes me most are the espresso notes. At less than 100 proof for cask strength it's super easy to drink and yet still full bodied, rich, and complex.
Thoughts: I have traditionally had bad experiences with beer finished whiskey but I am glad I took a chance on this - I really enjoy it. The imperial stout imparted coffee notes are really unique but not as overpowering as something like the Abraham Bowman coffee finished bourbon which basically tasted like barrel proof coffee. I've had slight ups and downs with Belle Meade's experimental finishes but this one is a winner for me.
Rating: B
Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.
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