Black Oak Bourbon Barreled 2005 Nutcracker Porter

Formerly brewed at Black Oak Brewing
Style: Porter
Etobicoke, Canada

[767-20071020] Cask @ Volo Cask Days 2007 (Toronto, ON). Vanilla whiskey fruit aroma with dark malt and sweet maple hints. Red black body with quick tan bubbles. Light whiskey malt flavour has a roasted coffee cinnamon finish. Medium-full body is smooth. Smooth and Lovely.

Cask. At Volo Casks Days ’07. Where’s the love? This was terrific stuff, I went back for more. It poured thick-looking black, small head. The aroma - and I had one of the first pours from the cask and a later one too - was not-too-sweet bourbon overlaid on sweet, overroat malt, no alcohol character - other than the ghost of bourbon - but a little candied fruit, raisin and dry, earthy hops. The taste was very smooth, restrained and balanced - bourbon vanilla, heavy roast malt, very earthy and dry - and light, too, this is not a "big" beer. Slick, light mouthfeel, dry, just a whiff of tannic acidity, and a relatively quick finish - my God, the first session barrel-aged beer I’ve had!

Cask at Volo cask days 2007, nnose was definate bourbon, really nice nose, flavor was interesting i picked up some coffee, and nice malty goodness, nice bitterness as well, got some of the bourbon but not huge amounts in the flavor. thanx for bringing this one out Ken

Cask at Volo Cask Days 2007. Deep almost-but-not-quite black with a wisp of a head. Aroma has a helluva lot of bourbon and vanilla - very pleasant, but also worrying, as it suggested the flavour would be completely overpowered by the bourbon. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case - there was a good amount of it there, but it was nicely integrated with the beer, which held notes of chocolate, dark fruitcake and vanilla. I would’ve preferred a bit more body, but otherwise, I quite enjoyed it.

Cask @ Volo Cask Days 2007. Black body with a tiny khaki head. (3+) Strong aroma of vanilla and bourbon. Flavour is quite well rounded. Light bitterness up front, moderate roast throughout and a malty foundations. Light roasty bitterness lingers, bourbon is an accent flavour. (7) Second sample on Sunday: Bourbon dominates the flavour leaving only a whisper of the underlying beer apparent. (6) First sample was delicious, second sample merely good. Medium to full bodied palate, especially for a cask.

Cask, Nov. 07. I tried this as part of the Volo ’Nutcracker Suite.’ This was the star of the night. The aroma of this is wonderful, reminds me of a complex spirit: vanilla, raisin, with herbal hints, bourbon. Medium to light mouthfeel. Flavour has vanilla, chocolate, bourbon. Little to no cinnamon on my radar.

On cask at Volo , Canada
Appearance :Black with dark brown hint , beige medium crown (rocky) 3+
Nose : Dark brown malts , grainy with medium strong influence of bourbon casking , hint of chocolate marked 7-
Flavour/Palate : Mellow , soft choco-mocha base with bourbon character painted trough. Slightly chewy in texture .Vanilla like finish. Good.

Enjoyed at Volo as part of the nutcracker suite tasting. Same appearance as the regular nutcracker, but with less of a head. Yep...that’s definitely jim beam in the aroma - very different from the candy cane smell of the regular. The bourbon is well integrated into the flavour, and although t does not dominate it is always there. Other notes include chocolate and rasins. A bit thin on the palate, but it seems to match this beer well. Overall, I would not get a whole pint of this, but would be happy to sip away on a glass.