Softly carbonated, but still a bit prickly; the carbonation is actually just about perfect for this big beer. This is quite tart tasting, my mouth even puckers a bit as I take my first sip. A tannic character seems to accentuate flavors of cherry skins and also coats the teeth and palate like a strong tea. The barrel flavors contribute a soft, buttery oak component, just a touch of vanillin, and a lightly spicy woodiness as well as some light Bourbon notes; I like how light the Bourbon is in the flavor, it is much reduced compared to the aroma. Pretty darn near bone dry tasting, it does have a viscous fullness to it that shows there is residual sugars & malt here, but this is almost completely tempered by the sourness and barrel flavors. The finish has a touch of heat to it from the alcohol and barrel influences though it is somewhat soft.

As the beer warms up a bit some dry raisin flavors become more noticeable, essence of prunes also is found as is a noticeable tart cherry pulp flavor. I really like how the sourness melds with the fullish body; the combination just seems to work quite well here.

This is probably a bit tastier than the black label (Russian River) version I had before this, but I get the feeling that prior versions achieved a closer-to-perfection result than this; such is the vagaries of experiments with bugs and barrels. I look forward to sampling future vintages in the coming years.

Black Label, Sampled August 2005
4.2 8/8/8/9/9
Pours an opaque, deep amber color that shows bright, lightly murky ruby highlights when held up to the light. The head is tan colored, frothy and fairly thin though it sticks around throughout the entire 750ml bottle. The aroma is enticingly tart as soon as I pop the cork with notes of cherries. As I go in for a deeper draught of the aroma the oaky bourbon barrel type notes. There is a nice fruitiness under the barrel character; I get notes of raisins, figs, palm sugar, hints of molasses, tart cherries, vanilla, and caramel. The aroma is quite complex, the more I smell the nose the more different scents and aromas come to the fore. Quite a nice aroma.

The body on this beer is quite thick, though it finishes fairly light with a bourbon note. The taste is tart and funky with notes of moist earth, musty leather. The finish is lightly hot with alcohol, though this may be the barrel character more than the beer itself. Again the beer is quite complex, this would age gracefully for many years (probably improving quite a bit) and I really wish I had another bottle of this. This is definitely quite interesting, I am not too sure that the level of barrel character here is correct, I wish it was a bit more subtle so that I could taste the tantalizingly complex beer underneath. Don’t get me wrong this is quite good and quite enjoyable, I just wish that the barrel character was a bit less. Having said that, as the beer warms up it starts to become a bit more in balance; the tart sourness (a mix of tart cherry and hints of rich balsamic vinegar) begins to reign in the barrel character. This beer has enticing notes of toffee, a bit of molasses, whisky, bourbon, vanilla, and tannic oakiness.

This beer is quite complex, and that is what saves this beer in the end for me, there is so much going on with every sip it is just too intriguing, despite the heavy handed oak. Up front I get some really sweet cherry notes, despite the fact that this beer is not really very sweet. There is a thick maltiness here that gives a sort of rich sweet character. As it is this beer is quite the experience, very worth spending an hour or two contemplating the flavors and complexity. I need to get another bottle of this."

Aroma: 8/10 Appearance: 8/10 Mouthfeel: 8/10 Flavor: 9/10 Overall: 8/10

Final Rating, by Style: (4.1) Sampled: Bottle Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure