MacTarnahans Bourbon Cask Aged Blackwatch Cream Porter

Formerly brewed at Portland Brewing Company (Pyramid)
Style: Porter
Portland, Oregon USA

Very solid beer. Taste is like a very creamy ale that goes down extremely smooth with a good malty, coffee-like aftertaste. Has a small brown head that disappears quickly.

2003 Vintage: Dark as night with a fine tan head that evaporates quickly. Smells of malt and roasted chocolate. Tastes of burbon and roasted malt. Finishes quickly and leave a nice burnt taste behind.

2003 - Opaque black with a medium light brown head. Big espresso aroma. There is also a fairly large bourbon aroma. Flavor is a bit one dimensional, woody and sweet. The body is medium. The finish is fast and the beer just races off of the palate. Pretty good but not outstanding.

Bottle of the 2003 vintage. Dark brown to black color with a creamy light brown head. The aroma has chocolate and toasted malts. Creamy and smooth. The boubon cask and fruits come though well in the flavor.

This bottled brew brought to the Three Floyds Birthday Gathering 12/27/2003 by the TannerTavernBoys poured a small head of light brown colored fully diminished fine to medium sized bubbles that left behind an opaque black as midnight in a cave on a moonless night body and a poor lace. The aroma was strong with notes of bourbon malt and thick motor oil! It had a smooth mouthfeel with a mild hop bite and was thick and chewey. Its flavor was malty and contained a few notes of mollasses.

Re-Rate 3/17/2004
Black body with a short-lived tan head. Wood, molasses and some overripe plum in the generously rich aroma. I think all the sweetness I anticipated from the aroma must have soaked into the wood - this is pretty dry stuff. There's oak flavor, light roasted malt and some finishing bitterness. For a barrel-aged beer, I expected a richer mouthfeel and a bigger flavor. This is like a thin porter with some woody astringency thrown in.Original rating 12/28/3004

Toasty sweet bourbon aroma. Very dark brown color with a minimal off-white head. Gentle malty sweetness with sweet woody notes.

2003 bottle. Big time cream aroma, like a Bailey's Irish, and this is particularly the case at cold temperatures. Later, more pronounced vanilla veins, nutty, smooth, complex. Compelling roasted flavor, long in the finish. It swirls beautifully in the glass, with a dense cream colored head.

Thanks to Slikwily for hooking me up with this limited edition brew. Creamy vanilla aroma. Fully opaque black body with a fully diminishing light brown head. Excellent lace. The bourbon barrel "enhancement" is subtle at best. I don't like bourbon barrel conditioned beers that hit you over the head with the bourbon flavor. However, this one swings too far in the other direction. Very good vanilla flavor. This is better than Stoney Creek's Original Vanilla Porter. Smooth, yet with enough bite to make it interesting. Any less bite and it would be too bland. Why isn't the ABV% printed on the bottle? This really should be required. Very good.