North Coast Old Stock Cellar Reserve Bourbon Barrel

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle - 500mL corked and caged. Vintage 2013. Courtesy of Kevin at Grape and Gourmet. Dark brown with a short tan head. Aroma is boozy and sweet with sweet malt, caramel, vanilla, light oak notes and soft vanilla. Taste caramel, sweet malt, booze, vanilla notes, soft wood and cocoa. Body is medium with a soft bubbly carbonation. Moderate warmth to this and light stickiness. Ends with more caramel, vanilla, sweet malt, cocoa, booze, vanilla notes and light woody notes.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

2009 Vintage 13.5% ABV - opened about a month or two ago (Early 2014) but forgot to review. Pretty much one of the best beers I had. I knew what I was getting into cause love the regular old stock and tried the bourbon barrel Old Rasp. More character and sweetness than regular Old Stock, and I'm pretty sure the aging made a difference. I bought it somewhere in 2012. Not overly sweet from the bourbon but it's in there for sure. A complex brew with Belgian-like flavors but still has that American barelywine feel. Even given the price, I would still get this again!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

Had a bottle of this after my awesome pizza @ Waldo's in KC .. . Pours a deep tan .. . this was so good! .. rich, full, bourbon, sweet molasses, fun, expensive .. . You'll have to speak up, I'm wearing a towel.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

nuts, wood, caramel, dark fruit...whiskey and butterscotch. the hops even show themselves just a little, making this an incredibly smooth, complex sipper. i can't say i like it better than the Raspy 12...and definitely not 9x as good as Old Stock, though it costs more than 2 four packs of the base brew. that said, it was worth it for a bottle...and since this was a split bottle, i still got one more.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Got very lucky on this one. Nice bottle to boot. Pours a rich, deep, opaque amber. Head is light and dissipates quickly. Aroma is rich in bourbon and molassas. Soy sauce is in there, but very subtle. Complex dark fruit, currant, licorice and alcohol. Amazingly smooth. Spiced fig, mince meat, and candied plum abound on the palate. Dark wood, and warm vanilla spice also come to mind as tis passes the palate. Rich brew. Best shared. Finish is warm with alcohol, aged wood, and dark, spiced fruit. Shame, I will probably never see another brew like this one. Opened New Year's 2010-2011.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This Barley Wine pours a murky dark reddish brown color from a corked 375ml bottle. Small sized white foamy head, that quickly disappears. The aroma is caramel, dark fruit, raisins, oak and bourbon. The barrel character is more pronounced here than with the Brandy Barrel beer. A medium bodied Barley Wine. The malts are caramel, dark fruit and sweet. The hops are earthy. This one is more oak and bourbon sweetness than the Brandy Barrel aged version, it has more oak and wood than fruit. Still very smooth tasting. . Hides the 14.5% alcohol very well. Some chocolate and toffee flavors emerge as it warms. Nice beer. There are lots of flavors mixing going on around here. It is interesting how the different barrels completely change the character of this beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

NorCal Feb '08 - Not sure who brought this to the tasting, but thanks. I've got 2 bottles at home and I'd like to compare what a little age does to them. Right now, the beer is really nice. An aroma of Play-Doh, bourbon, oak, caramel, vanilla and subtle tobacco notes. Flavors are caramel meltaways, dark fruits, bourbon, vanilla, with a little too much alcohol right now. I'm willing to bet some age will do wonders for this beer. Still, a great beer that will only get better.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

The anticipation of this beer can hardly be described in a thousand words. As the bottle was passed down the line my eyes lit up as if I was a child waking up late on Christmas Eve. Oh the sounds of Santa Claus bringing an unknown Christmas surprise! My friends this is truly my milk and cookies! Finally the liquid black gold has filled my humble glass. The copper color gives way to brown much like the parched ground after a much needed rain storm. Upon sniffing the beer I’m taken away to the old whiskey houses of Tennessee. I can see the humble workers placing their pride and joy in the barrels to be aged and enjoyed by all. The caramel I smell, oh my golly goodness, is caramel covered apples that grandmammy gave to all the neighborhood groundlings. Once the brew hit my lips the real fun has just begun. One thinks the whiskey might not come forth but indeed it does. And it does with gusto! The molasses comes out as if it was time for the morning pancakes. The dark fruits dance about my tongue. I’m having daydreams of prunes and raisins. At the back of this house of pleasure comes a dose of vanilla extract. Just like a fine wine or a fine woman this one needs some age on it to be fully appreciated. But like most things in life, the age brings on the beauty! Sail me off to the North Coast and let me do so in a barrel!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours with a quickly dissipating, initially one-finger thick, tan colored head. The beer is a dark, rusted amber color, but shows a brilliantly clear, full cranberry color when held up to the light. Ample Bourbon and sharp oak notes greet my nose, but it is far more integrated and smoother than many Bourbon Barrel beers. In fact the barrel character is right on par with the Brandy barrel version; certainly dominant, but well integrated and pleasing to the olfactory senses. Notes of spicy Bourbon, vanillin, ample butterscotch laden oak, definite warming alcohol notes and a touch of spicy wood are all noticeable parts of the barrel aging. The barrel notes are well supported by a substantial, but clearly secondary, malt character; ample caramelized malt notes help to smooth out the barrel notes and especially marry well with the vanillin and butterscotch notes. Some berry-like fruitiness, a sweet nuttiness and toasty browned malts are also part of the malt profile. After my nose gets used to the aroma a bit the barrel character seems to die down a bit, but it never loses the ample warming note from the alcohol.

Sweet, but as was the sister brew, this is very light feeling for a beer of this strength. The alcohol is omnipresent and seems to quickly go to my head, though I would not characterize it as overly hot, merely substantially warming. Nutty flavors seem to accent wood derived notes of butterscotch and vanillin; the latter two being the more noticeable notes. The malt provides fruity notes of raisins and berries that, in combination with the booze, make this taste a bit like Brandy. This is clearly Bourbon influenced though as it has a characteristically spicy edge to it, especially in the finish. The barrel notes are huge here, somehow this beer holds them in check though; the base beer manages to keep the barrel from becoming overly aggressive. The Bourbon character somehow manages to be so present here in the flavor, but it still does not become disagreeable (am I becoming more used to Bourbon notes in beer, a distinct possibility, or is this just that well integrated).

Definitely harder than the Brandy barrel aged version, but not overly so and I can see this appealing more to some people. The sharper barrel notes, which the Bourbon brings out, are really nice though and make this beer different enough (in a good way) from the Brandy that I find that I am enjoying this beer far more than I thought I would. I really think that trying this beer after I sampled the Brandy one (separated by days) has made me enjoy this beer all that much more. If I had had it at the same time, or before the other one, I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much. The differences that my memory has played out seem to be the most intriguing part of this beer. What this relies on though is the fact that this beer, while clearly barrel dominated, does not allow the barrel notes to overwhelm & marginalize the base beer. In the end it is a little too alcohol accented in the flavor to be on the same level as the Brandy barrel aged old stock, but it is still damn tasty and quite close.