Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition

This is a bourbon barrel aged 11.5% ABV stout brewed with brown sugar, from Jackie O's Pub & Brewery in Athens, Ohio.

The beer pours black in appearance. It pours nearly still, with just the slightest, thinnest bit of brown head bubbling up at then end, in a single layer that does not cover the top of the beer.  The aroma is sweet and dark roasted, black molasses, brown sugar, bourbon, vanilla, a bit of dark cherry. The taste is smooth, sweet, rich, dark roasted, with all the notes of the aroma, plus coffee. The beer doesn’t drink boozy, but some bourbon enters the nasal cavities, and it certainly drinks with a warming effect. It is sweet, but finishes dry, with some oak astringency. The beer drinks very smooth, round and full. This is fine, fine, fine.