50 ml sample bottle; honey-colored. The aroma is a dark, burnt cookie bottom. The stout malts manifest themselves as a alternately dry and oily: there is some nutty, toffee nose, and some charcoal; but it also contains an imperial stout richness, that have an oily plum, cherry and raisin. The oiliness has a fusel, gasoline component that is not subtle. It's an off-aroma, like paint-thinner or a black magic marker. The first taste is deep molasses: it's sweet like a buttery toffee cookie, and that burnt cookie malt adds a bitter balance. That said, the brown sugar is dominant, and it just tastes a little processed. The sugars are pungently sweet like a creme brulee. It would pair beautifully with a darker dessert, actually, because the sweetness dominates. The finish is more of that bitter cookie bottom: dark and chalky, but then there is some plum and date, then an ashy tobacco end. I like the idea of this whiskey: the barrel's effects are very noticeable. But that said, I'm not sure it's entirely successful. It's neither fish nor fowl: it's not a satisfying stout experience, and it's not balanced enough to be a satisfying Irish whiskey. A pour is enough, a bottle, for me, is too much.