Uiltje: Lekker Bakkie Kobi – Cognac Barrel Aged (Netherlands: Imperial Stout: 14.9% ABV)
Visual: Black. Still. Pours with a large creamy brown head that quickly descends to a more normal size.
Nose: Spiced rum. Creamy chocolate. Thick marmalade. Cognac. Cherries. Red and white grapes. Strawberries.
Body: Thick and creamy. Sherry trifle. Rum and port. Rum soaked raisins. Brandy cream. Creamy chocolate. Strawberry syrup. Cognac. Slight liquorice. Nougat. Figgy pudding. Glacier cherries.
Finish: Creamy cognac. Marmalade. Milky chocolate. Fondue. Strawberry ice cream and syrup. Fig rolls. Slight liquorice.
Conclusion: Oh god this is rich. Very thick, very creamy, very heavy indeed. In a world where high abv beers seem to be ashamed of that fact, hiding themselves behind super smooth, comparatively light bodies, it is refreshing to run into one that wears its full weight on its sleeve. In fact, it wears it on its sleeve and then sews on patches made of spirit scrawled obscenities to double down on that fact.
It isn’t harsh though, isn’t burning – just spirity, weighty – it doesn’t have that flaw of high alcohol, just the immense presence that comes with it.
The base body feels fruity with dark figs, raisins and cherries – but most of the room there is taken up by the wide range of spirity notes that the cognac aging has brought in. It feels like its has been aged in multiple barrels rather than just cognac – you get what feels like spicy rum, brandy cream, and of course the thick marmalade cognac notes. It is lovely. The barrel aging utterly dominates, but the solid base below is far from lost. There is little subtlety left, but it manages to keep the more intense flavours for pounding complexity.
As time goes on a chewy nougat character builds, adding a more thick mouthfeel to an already heavy beer. Even the late addition of liquorice doesn’t feel out of place – in fact it comes in as a much needed dryness amongst an otherwise intensely sweet monster. Now, this isn’t a beer for everyone – while not sickly sweet, it is still very intense in the sweet character, so not for those who prefer a drier, roasted or more bitter stout.
Stupidly sweet, and stupidly heavy, but makes it work. Very fun, very good, very barrel aged.
Background: Ok, from the very Starbucks looking label, I guessed this was going to be a coffee infused stout – but nope. According to the bottle, they planned to do that initially, but changed their mind after trying it after it had been aged in Cognac casks for 19 months. Fair enough. Grabbed from Independent Spirit, and drunk in the slightly cooler weather while listening to some Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance to be precise. Some slightly cheesy but fun metal.
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