Having a great time watching Monday night football with the Peyton brothers on TV. Another night in Houston with my son-in-law having a few brews. Old Rasputin number XXIII is going to be interesting. Small head, black opaque color. Aroma has crazy strong rye whiskey, dark fruit accents that simulates licorice. Sweet characteristics. First sip is velvet smooth, creamy. Slides into an intense rye alcohol, sweet dark chocolate, tart dried prunes. All of this is warm from mouth to belly. The alcohol is 11.4% but feels and tastes much stronger. This is a very strong beer, much stronger than I expected.

Before I start this review, I'll admit I'm not a fan of Old Rasputin. I'm just not a fan of hoppy stouts. In my experience, aging hoppy stouts in bourbon barrels tends to mellow the hoppiness, so we'll see. Hoppy bitterness, chocolate and roasted malts in the aroma. Taste has chocolate, bourbon and roasted malts. The hoppy bitterness is not noticeable under the bourbon barrel aging. The body is medium-full with a lower amount of carbonation. 4.25/5