Pours a light golden orange color. Smells nice, lots of bourbon spice, some caramel, vanilla, hints of honey and ripe fruit. Taste follows the nose, lots of spice, nutmeg, rich caramel, hints of vanilla and fruit. Mouthfeel is rich and full bodied, spicy, a bit on the hot side (keep in mind my baby beer palate) but still quite approachable. Overall this is fantastic stuff, though I’m not sure it’s worth the insane hype. Really glad I splurged for a pour at a bar (which wasn’t too excessive), and I’d be really psyched if I got a bottle of this in the PA lottery someday (they charge standard retail, which is actually great for this - secondary is ridiculous as usual). Beer Nerd Musings - Anything in the Van Winkle Orbit gets the same overwhelming hype as the bourbon itself, including beers aged in the barrels. I actually don’t know of any beer specifically aged in Old Rip Van Winkle barrels, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the”Van Winkle” aged beers are this rather than the more preferable Pappy 15, 20, or 23 expressions. Still, I can imagine this being fantastic for bba beers, so there is that. Anyway, some of the best beers I’ve ever had were aged in Van Winkle barrels, so while I’d love to alleviate some of they hype, I really can’t… On the other hand, some base beers can’t really stand up to the BBA treatment - Stillwater brewing aged their Folklore Belgian strong dark ale in Pappy 20 barrels and the results were underwhelming to say the least… but in general, anything Van Winkle is prized, even for beer dorks.