“Bourbon – The 2023 batch of imperial stout has been aged in a new set of ex-bourbon barrels, so expect plenty of bourbon up front, followed by a smooth, roasty and subtly oaked extra strong stout.

Whiskey – We’ve received a new set of ex-Aussie whisky barrels, so this batch of imperial stout has plenty of whisky character, followed by a smooth, roasty and subtly oaked extra strong stout.”

Glassware: Snifter.

WHISKEY BARREL EDITION.

Appearance: Solid black with a finger of brown head topping it off. Gradual reduction with wavy lacing on the glass.

Aroma: Quite sweet for a whiskey barrel. Smells much too mild and green to be anything but an Australian whiskey. Really nice Stout base…big, robust and charred. Plenty of coffee, dark chocolate and cocoa. We like it.

Flavour: We’re usually always Bourbon barrels when it comes to BA Stouts but we really like this whiskey that has been used. It’s quite green but its nice and mellow, moderately sweet and spicy character integrates well with the base Stout.

Mouthfeel: Kinda chewy, silky and full bodied but quite palatable for 11% ABV.

BOURBON BARREL EDITION.

Appearance: Pours exactly like the whiskey edition – solid black, one finger of brown head which forms a thin collar. Wavy lace as we go.

Aroma: Pretty shy and unusual Bourbon qualities initially. Somewhat hard to tell if it’s an Australian Bourbon or a poor use of American Bourbon barrels. The stout base, again, is good but it gets a little muddled in and amongst the barrel notes. Weird strike out as the BBA editions in the past have been the standout.

Flavour: Yeah they’ve changed the barrels that they’ve used in previous releases. From memory they used Buffalo Trace and this doesn’t come across as the same. This year the whole beer has astringency, obscure Bourbon flavours, and that affects the base Stout. Not digging it.

Mouthfeel: A little sharper and less palatable than the whiskey edition. Full bodied and the booze is a little more pronounced.

Overall: Well…it appears the pair have done a full switcheroo. Last year the BBA was the fave and the WBA was the least. We’ve noticed there’s no Rum edition this year which is a shame as we kinda liked that expression. Yeah, not all that enthused this time around.