Clown Shoes Porcine Unidragon

This 12.5% ABV beer is an American Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels.  It is from Clown Shoes Beer of the Mercury Brewing Company of Ipswich, Massachusetts. I was a bit perplexed by its smokiness until I read the bottle and found it is made with Beechwood smoked malt. I guess that is where the "porcine" comes in, because the bottle suggests that the smokiness gives it a meaty note (not to me it doesn't).

Have you noticed how the majority of barrel aged beers don't say what brand of spirt they were aged in? There are notable exceptions, but most don't say. I find that surprising, it seems that more often than not it would generate cross interest in the spirit, to see what it tastes like on its own and better understand how it influenced the beer.

The beer pours black like crude oil. There is a short head of dark tan foam. The aroma is the bourbon of smelling the rock glass that you drank bourbon out of last night, char, lightly smokey. The taste is dark roasted malt, char, peat smoke, along with the same bourbon note from the aroma. While there is sweetness, the beer drinks dry overall, moderately bitter, a bit spicy, with some definite heat from the alcohol. The overall effect is like drinking a Highland Scotch Whisky.