stout…stout…let it all out! (another whiskey wednesday bit)

for our next whiskey wednesday installment we’re looking at two different ones aged in stout beer barrels…

…which is all the more fitting to be talking about whiskey and beer on st. patrick’s day, right?

both of these are irish whiskeys (of course) that are aged in stout beer barrels to infuse the flavor a bit. both hold up well and were sipped slow on the rocks.

whistler imperial stout edition – this one was weird. while it didn’t have any “expect these flavors” notes on the label (more on that on the next one) it definitely, not to sound like “that guy”, had a chocolate “nose”. when you raise the glass to take a sip you catch a snout full of cocoa. you sure as fuck don’t TASTE that, but you catch it on your nostrils which kinda taints the first sip’s flavor. i found it was only on that first sip, though. after that, smooth sailing – good flavor, and a bit more of a kick (43% abv) than your standard fair. yeah, you pay a bit more for it, but i felt it was worth it. other than the odd chocolate flavor my only complaint is the bottle, which with it’s matte black finish LOOKS cool as shit, but you have no idea how close to the end of the bottle you are till you’re there. that made the last day i drank this kinda suck ’cause i’m typically a “two and through” kinda guy and in this case there was only one glass worth out there. glad i still had a little of that last one to balance out the night!

jameson cask mates stout edition – this actually made an appearance last year as well, but i have since learned they do NOT use guinness barrels to age it, but rather barrels from the eight degree brewing folks. i kinda like this more, honestly – not like the guinness folks are hurting for money, and it gives a craft brewery nice exposure. that being said, i really don’t taste much of a departure from normal jay-mo, which i’m not a huge fan of. i’d spoke well of this last year, because i was comparing it to normal jameson, but comparing it with the whistler it gets its ass handed to it. on the upside, it was on a pretty steep sale, which ends today, so i gotta go select one more bottle of irish whiskey to use for our final installment in two weeks!