A. Smith Bowman Abraham Bowman, Gingerbread Beer Finished

(4-21-06/8-14-13)

Nose: Thin honey and general light bourbon quality, though there's a bit of acetone and clear alcohol notes at first. With a lot of time, those notes blow off, and malty beer, and lots of spice emerge. Cinnamon, nutmeg (oodles), ginger. Think Christmas candy and baked goods from the 19th century. A well-timed released, no doubt! Vanilla, coconut, and rye (grain and spice). Maybe some maple, too.

Palate: Light on entry, and a little malty bitter. Coming back to it, it's more like stepping into Oktoberfest at fair full of microbrewers, and steins of spicy beer and whiskey liqueur. The bourbon quality is rather light, loads of spice, still nutmeg and cinnamon. A very hoppy, bitter beer, too.

Finish: I'm liking this more after having it a few times, and giving it lots of time to breath. I'm not sure whether the whiskey is too lost in the finish, but it's interesting, and I wonder how this do in an egg-nog. Very interesting, though also rather flawed and comes up a bit short on the body.