From Last Best Brewing & Distilling in Calgary Alberta comes their first ever bottled beer the “Barrel-Aged Imperial Porter” the first of their Lineage Series.  This beer was barrel aged in rum barrels for 7 months.  This beer was released Winter 2015 and consumed Spring 2018.  Pouring an opaque black with a brown head this is a good looking stout.  The aroma consists of roasted malts, earth, anise, treacle, brown sugar, chocolate, rum, oak, dark fruits and sweetness.  The flavour is of anise, treacle, maple, roasted malts, brown sugar, chocolate, rum, oak, dark fruits, sweetness, mild earth and bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 10.5% with an IBU of 30.   This stuff tasted awesome the first time I tried it in 2016 and has only gotten better with time.

Commercial Description:  We want every bottled beer to get better with time.  This is restrictive, but important. It means the beers we bottle will be big. Like the 10.5% of this porter big. Alcohol preserves beer and is involved in a variety of chemical reactions that develop complex flavours over time. We’ve aged it in ex-rum barrels for 7 months until the tannins started to leach from the wood, giving it structure akin to a well-oaked red wine. It’s a touch rough right now, but will smooth out in time. This beer is already full of intense dark fruit, chocolate and raisin notes, and we expect these to only get better.