B.Nektar - Dark Dark Goose

What a cool, fantastic mead from B.Nektar.  Dark Dark Goose is a coffee mead aged in bourbon barrels, then aged a second time in a Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout barrel.  

There's a pretty interesting story behind this mead:  The inspiration was the big stouts that B.Nektar loved to drink, so a coffee mead was made with the help of a local Ferndale, MI roaster, Chazzano in 2010.  The blend is 75% of a Nicaraguan french roast and 25% of a Yemen full city roast.  The honey profile is 50/50 wildflower and Buckwheat. The coffee mead was then put into a Heaven Hill barrel for 11 months.  Then in 2011 their co-founder Brad drove his car to Chicago to pick up a just emptied Bourbon County Stout barrel from Goose Island, which he then drove back home to Michigan on this roof.  They then aged the coffee mead in this barrel (purportedly still with some BCBS still left in the barrel) until the summer of 2012.

This mead is a limited, one-time release in 375ml bottles.  Released at Summer Mead Fest in the Summer of 2012.  It was originally $25, limit 6 bottles.  The bottle count is estimated at about 500 bottles.

I thoroughly enjoyed this mead.  The intensity of the coffee was mind blowing considering the bottle I drank was 4 years old.  There was no sign of coffee fade or green peppers.  The sweetness of the honey was nicely offset with the spiciness of the buckwheat and oaky/spiciness of the barrel. There was a huge roastiness that was both bitter and smooth at the same time.  This mead is top notch, and I loved the chance to try it.  If you ever come across a bottle don't hesitate to jump on it, it's one of the best coffee meads I've ever had, and drinking fantastically.