Bourbon County

It was back in 2004 at the original Goose Island brewpub that founder John Hall celebrated his 1,000th batch of beer by housing some Imperial Stout in Bourbon Barrels. I've heard a variety of sources saying the barrels were Elijah Craig's 18 yr barrels, others saying they were Pappy Van Winkle's 25 yr barrels. Either way, Bourbon County is said by many to be one of the most influential beers in the country, kick starting a barrel aging revolution across the United States. Eight years later, the latest batch was finally released, and while it won't be the last, it'll probably be my last batch. 
With the purchase of Goose Island by ab-inbev in 2011, Founder John Hall announced he'd be stepping down as CEO of the Goose, so one last sweet taste of Bourbon County seemed appropriate. Throw in the high price of bourbon county and the fact that I think inbev is a greedy conglomerate, the decision was made. Besides, Boston really has one of the most creative groups of brewers around right now with extensive barrel programs between Night Shift Brewing, Mystic Brewing, Jack's Abby and probably loads of others that I've missed, so I don't really need Bourbon County like I might've in 2004.   That doesn't however mean that I wouldn't sink my teeth into one last batch of Bourbon County before I retire it away from my collective thought.
Unaged, fresh bourbon county is still a beast of a beer. This years variation cranks in at 15%, and the heat from the whiskey and booze is present in the nose. It smells strongly of sweet malt and bourbon. The taste carries it over with serious sweetness and very little hops. The bourbon is still very hot with some nice burn on the tongue. A serious sipping beer. I have one left that I plan to age and it'll probably be the last one I buy since other bourbon and barrel aged beers are becoming regularly available.