North Coast Old Rasputin Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Fort Bragg, California USA

Liquid Sunshine VII Tasting – Kirkland, WA
Aroma: Big Dark malt chocolate and roasty aroma.
Appearance: Dark black in color, Clear with a thin head.
Flavor: Dark malt flavors with chocolate, coffee and barrel aging flavors. Strong alcohol was present but will sneak up on you.
Palate: Dry Sweet barrel age Finish, with a Good Mouthfeel.
Overall: Big dark beer this was for sipping or sharing. A perfect beer for the day.

XI Bottle. Black pour with a nearly reddish brown head that’s substantial and quite eventful in appearance. Aroma is intense - very nutty, wood, vanilla, coffee, and dominated by the caramel, char, and heat of bourbon. Flavor explodes with bourbon qualities: vanilla, sweetened espresso, wood, dark chocolate. Finish finally reminds me of the base beer in its strong roast, bitterness, espresso, and licorice with the addition of nutty wood. I can taste the barrel in my nose between sips. Fulled bodied and creamy feel, but it’s not syrupy and it’s very hot. Aside from the heat, this was quite intense and wonderful !

Thanks bitbucket! Richly chocolately aroma, doesn’t even seem like beer and reminds me of Southern Tier’s Choklat. Very dark brown, small head. Little tobacco, inky and strong. Gritty, rich oak, strong bourbon.

XII bottle: My good lord, this is on par with BA Speedway...soft, deliciate, yet rich as hell with fluffy bourbon notes rounding this beauty out. I will go in depth on a re-rate but I was too busy enjoying this beer to analyze it all that much. I’ve still got 3 bottles in the cellar...probably will get more tomorrow now that I know this shit is off the hook, even for $21/bottle
Earlier Rating: 10/27/2008 Total Score: 4.1
Logan’s Stout Tasting: Dark Brown with a halo atop. Bourbony/Vinous nose, almost grapey with touches of vanilla and a little tartness. Vanilla flavors in a silky kind of way. Suave chocolate and brown sugar flavors...lots of vanilla..smooth silky bliss.

Bottle from Pizza Port. Black with a creamy tan head. Chocolate, caramel, and vanilla aroma with slight oaky bourbon notes. A soft velvetty mouth feel followed by a buttery creaminess on the back of the throat. Delicate best describes the palate. Tastes of chocolate, brown sugar, vanilla, caramel, bourbon, and oak. Very good.

500ml bottle of XII. Pours pitch black with a huge off white head. Aroma of dark fruit, bourbon, vanilla and oak. Flavor is huge bourbon, vanilla, coffee, oak, rounded out with black roasted malt. The finish is huge and lasting bourbon. This is a wonderful beer, a touch spendy for a 500ml bottle at $19.95 but if you love bourbon barrel aged beers as much as I do you’ll find it worth every penny.

XII edition, 500ml bottle, which I am assuming goes here, and the other listing will be merged. Pours with a large dark brown head over a black body. Head leaves great lace behind. Aroma of bourbon, wood, oak, chocolaty goodness and alcohol. Taste is alcohol, bourbon everywhere, wood, and chocolate sweetness. Syrupy, bourbony, lightly carbonated mouthfeel that keeps you wanting more...

500 ml bottle from Bev4less in Santee. This rating is for the XII. Pours a viscous black color with a big tan head that has great retention and crazy lacing. The nose is ripe with dark fruits, vanilla, coffee, mocha and bourbon. The flavor is dominated by the bourbon, underlying that bourbon is a good malt backbone, with raisins, plums, mocha chocolate and coffee. The mouthfeel is medium and creamy smooth with lively carbonation. The finish is long and glorious with lingering bourbon. Overall: First of all, I really love bourbon barrel beers. In my BA beer I want to taste the bourbon. So, I really dug this brew, the in your face whiskey flavor (nicely balanced by malts) really hits the spot. This is good shit.