“An intensely black and dense stout in which coffee is infused during the brewing process. The result is a strong beer where prominent roasted flavours coalesce with a powerful taste of coffee. Once fermentation is complete, the beer is aged several months in bourbon oak barrels, which imparts vanilla, oak and bourbon flavours.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: Impenetrable black complexion capped off by a short brown head. It gradually forms a halo with spotty lacing on the glass.

Aroma: We recently reviewed the standard Peche Mortel and the intensity on that bad boy was next level. With the addition of bourbon barrels on top it has just elevated that intensity even further. The base impy coffee stout comes through with espresso, dark chocolate, woody spice and that black pepper note we touched on in the original Peche Mortel review. The vanilla, oak, sweet spice and toffee from the barrels are the icing on the cake.

Flavour: The initial flavour emulates the original version. Then bam…the bourbon/oak hits and sets off a wild profession of flavour. We’re getting espresso, dark chocolate, woody spice, cigar box, spicy bourbon, oak, burnt toast and toffee. It all hits a crescendo – emphasised by a warming 9.5% ABV – then it slowly tapers off into a rich, coffee and chocolate-laden finish that goes for days.

Mouthfeel: Slick, oily, a tad abrasive. Full bodied, low-ish Co2. The 9.5% ABV is fairly well concealed for its size.

Overall: Certainly an enjoyable drop. The price tag of $20 a bottle was a little exorbitant but with ridiculous prices for shipping these days it’s unfortunately a sobering reality. Solid offering though.