North Coast Brewing Company Barrel-aged Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout XIX.
(19th Anniversary)
Stout aged in bourbon barrels. 11.2 % ABV.
North Coast Brewing, Fort Bragg, CA.
North Coast Brewing has appeared here in the Nib a mere 7 times in the history of this blog, and not once in over 7 years, even though Old Rasputin and Brother Thelonious are two of my all-time favorites. Jumping over to BeerAdvocate, I can see that I've reviewed 16 of their beers. It's not likely that I'll repeat them all here, for some are not easy to find. Such as the XII (12th Anniversary) version of this beer, which was probably the only one I've tried. Twenty-five dollar bottles tend to scare me off. But, I splurged on this one. Happy that some much-needed money fell into my back account while waiting for the world to turn back to normal, I thought I could excuse a little excess. Just a little. So, let's open it up.
Solid ebony appearance, thorough opacity, burnished brown head on top, lasting a little.
In the nose: Bourbon, smoke, chocolate, cherries, licorice. Port, sherry. Mmmm, this I dig.
In the mouth: Warm entrance on the palate, almost fierce and fiery. Chocolate and coffee, wrapped up in leather and smoke, doused with vanilla, dark fruits, bourbon barrel over all of it. Bright, grassy hop presence shines a light above the darkness. Thick and rich, but not too much. Fairly easy flowing, with the alcohol strength just now rearing (roaring) it's head.
I have to wonder what a fresh bottle of this was like. I am drinking a 2016 bottle in 2020, though I bought it four days ago, fresh off of a liquor store shelf. Has it been there the whole time? So many questions. The biggest is: Would this have been bolder, richer, etc. when it was first released? It feels like it's fallen short of it's true potential.
Well one way to find out is to look back. The 12th Anniversary bottling came out in 2009, and I reviewed it immediately. Here are the notes from a fresh bottle, taken 11 years ago:
Bourbon Barrel Old Rasputin, 12
Fully ebon hued, with little foam on top, rather bare capped, at that.
Whiskey hits the nose right off, then blackstrap molasses, leather, bittersweet espresso and cholate...all the usual, banged up with bourbon.
Mmmm, indulgent...thick, rich, dry, delicious. Deep, yet mellow. Actually, this is something lovely. It's ...nearly gorgeous, in the realm of the imperial stout. The whiskey's big in it, but not so big. And when it hits, you feel no pain, to quote Robert Nestor Marley. Yeah, what it is, is groovy. Real groovy.
Full body, full flavor, and amazingly complex. The flavors roll out, and over, up and down. They reverberate, shock a bit, send the waves out on a molecular level.
Tobacco, toast, dry, dark chocolate...mmm, mmm.
I'm pretty pleased, though still not sure whether $21 a bottle is quite fair. 22 ounce, maybe...25 ounce, now, you've got a party!
My second bottle will sit for some time, I think, and be enjoyed to it's fullest.
Here's what the brewery has to say: Every year we age a special batch of our much-loved Russian Imperial Stout in Whiskey barrels. The depth, intensity, and complexity of the flavor profile of this special release, like its predecessors, make it a worthy tribute to Old Rasputin.
Prior to 2010, Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin was released in such limited quantities that it was available only at the North Coast Brewing retail shop in Fort Bragg, California. However, we received so many requests for this beer that we began producing enough Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin to put into broader, but still limited, distribution.
Available in 500 ML bottles with a cork and wire finish.
Bourbon Barrel Aged: The most robust expression with a rich toffee nose, chocolate notes, and a silky mouthfeel.
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