8.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 9.5

The whisky barrel-aged variant in this series of coconut stouts by Westbrook - a brewery that never disappoints when it comes to established American style craft brewing, so I did not hesitate when I saw this one on the shelves of Bierhalle Deconinck several weeks ago. Shared with Jan (the Zwarte Bron brewer). Mousy, yellowish beige, opening but generally stable 'ring' for a head, black robe with thin burgundy edges. Intense and beguiling nose of hot chocolate sauce, coconut ice cream or indeed actual coconut flakes, Belgian chocolates, pronounced bourbon, vanilla, walnut liqueur, nougat, toffee, mocha ice cream, amaretto. Sweet onset yet not annoyingly sticky, rather a sleek, dense, well-measured, pointy sweetness of candied dates and figs, with maltiness immediately coming to the foreground, softishly carbonated with a full and oily, slightly syrupy mouthfeel. Very deeply 'fondant'-chocolatey body, its 'chocolateness' firmly enhanced by the added cocoa nibs; lovely caramelly and hazelnutty edges too, with a pinch of almond, another added ingredient. Long, soothing, complex finish: coconut and vanilla are both very recognizable - don't mention all those stouts I had with vanilla where the vanilla was completely unnoticeable - and get along very well, embedded in bitter chocolate, cappuccino and warming bourbon, with woody effects remaining modest. Does end a tad too sticky if I have to be really severe, but that cannot bother me here, this is yet another beautiful, perfectly executed, deep and rich dessert stout by these South Carolina grandmasters; every added ingredient (and there are a lot of those here) gets its moment to shine, without overpowering the rest, and that in itself is an obvious sign of skill in brewing this kind of beers. Expensive, certainly here in Europe, but absolutely worth every penny.