Saranac Basking in Bourbon

I tend to avoid purchasing a 4, 6 or 12-pack of beer with the Saranac name on it because frankly, I do not like much of it. To keep up with their new beers, I usually buy a single bottle hoping to find something I enjoy. Truth be told, I have not had much luck lately. I have mentioned before that during college I would buy their mixed packs to get more familiar with different styles of beer. I found most of the beers in the pack to be underwhelming but nevertheless continued to keep trying them. However, I feel like I should say my relationship with Saranac beer is not all bad. In college I drank my fair share of Saranac Black Forest. On dollar pint nights, drinking that particular beer was a no-brainer over Labatt, Budweiser or the other domestic beers you commonly find in college bars. Sadly, outside of an appearance in a mixed pack, Black Forest has vanished from their lineup, and so has the opportunity for feeling the positive vibes of nostalgia along with it. So where is this all going? Well, I wanted to paint this picture so you would understand my reluctance to purchase a 4-pack of Basking in Bourbon Imperial Stout.

On several visits to my local grocery store over a week-long span I would stare at the shelf containing Saranac Basking in Bourbon. Normally, I would take any chance I could to buy a new barrel aged imperial stout from a brewery I enjoyed. Having the name Saranac on it caused me to leave it on the shelf. Each time I looked at it I would check Untappd to see it's rating. Over the span of the week, the rating kept going up. Then I started hearing some positive word of mouth about the beer and its price point. A 4-pack of an imperial stout sitting in barrels for over a year costing under 15 dollars was definitely priced right. After a week of deliberating, I went back to the store and picked up the last 4-pack on the shelf. It felt like it had been waiting there just long enough for me to buy it. Now, putting my past judgments of the Saranac Brewery aside, I opened up a bottle of Basking in Bourbon for this review.

I have set the stage for this review long enough, so I will cut to the chase. Basking in Bourbon is really good. I had a feeling I would enjoy it from the aroma. Judging by the aroma, Basking in Bourbon certainly lived up to its name. It was full of bourbon, oak, dark chocolate, caramel, spice, tobacco and a hint of smoke. It felt like a vast departure from anything else I have tried from the Saranac Brewery. The aroma told me there was a lot going on here and my first sip confirmed it. Basking in Bourbon is boozy, chewy, full of bourbon, dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla, with a smokey tobacco, spicy finish. As it warmed, the vanilla and chocolate sweetness became more pronounced. A small complaint I have is that I wanted just a little more carbonation. Basking in Bourbon is by no means flat but I think a little more carbonation would have added to the mouthfeel. The strong tobacco-like finish was interesting at first but I would have liked to see that scaled back just a little bit as well. Those complaints aside, this is by far the best beer I have had from the Saranac Brewery. It's full bodied, complex and most importantly, it tastes great. I hope Basking in Bourbon becomes a regular yearly release from them. Next time, I would purchase it without an ounce of hesitation.

Overall I would rate Basking in Bourbon a 4/5. It was good enough to open my mind up to future new releases from them. Also, if they could just bring back Black Forest that would be great.

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!