Three Taverns Departed Spirit

Three Taverns Departed Spirit is a Russian Imperial Stout, 11% ABV. Theophan The Recluse gets the barrel aged treatment in eight year old bourbon barrels.

The pour is a nice black color with a big coffee colored head that fades down but never fully dissipates. Mostly bourbon on the nose, not a ton of complexity. The flavor has a bit more in the complexity department. Bourbon is the big player in the taste, but I am also getting notes of dark fruits, toffee, chocolate, oak, vanilla and just a hint of coconut. The alcohol isn’t very noticeable at first but this gets pretty boozy as it warms. The mouth feel isn’t quite what I like in a Russian Imperial Stout, this feels a bit thin and the carbonation is a bit too high for the style.

This is a very good beer, but it falls a bit short of being great.