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Christmas Stouts - Part Two

Second part of my Christmas Stout series is devoted solely to the Galway Bays Two Hundred Fathoms 2020 release. Two Hundred Fathoms is a limited release Imperial Stout aged in Teelings whiskey barrels. The 2018 version was the 5th iteration of the hugely successful stout. To celebrate this Galway Bay Brewery kept back some 2018 blend, aged it in Rum and Bourbon Barrels and then blended it with Madagascan Vanilla beans and toasted coconut flakes, and Calendar Coffee Expresso shots to create the special boxset pictured below.

I was fortunate enough to get hold of the boxset back at the start of December, although it did involve 2 1/2 hours of hammering their web shop before I managed to be successful!

 

 

Over 3 night (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day) I settled down and enjoy my Christmas treat to myself. First up on Christmas Eve, was Two Hundred Fathoms. Much smoother than I remember from previous releases but still rocking the whiskey warmth from the barrel aging. The perfect way to wind down and relax after Santa duties were complete.

 

Christmas day, and it was the turn of the Two Hundred Fathoms Madagascan vanilla beans and toasted coconut. I really enjoyed this one. The warmth of the 12% ABV combined with Whiskey, Rum, Bourbon and vanilla to create the most delicious and decadent treat to end the most chaotic and wonderful day of the year.

 

The final bottle of the boxset was Two Hundred Fathoms with Teamwork Expresso from Calendar Coffee.  I'll admit that i have a strange relationship with coffee. I love the smell of roasted coffee, I love coffee sweets but I can't get over the bitterness to drink it!! As a result, I loved the smell of this stout. The coffee was hard to miss! I also surprised myself by enjoying this immensely. While the coffee was strong on the nose, it wasn’t as overpowering as i feared. You still got the warmth from the alcohol, you still got the various flavours from the Whiskey, Rum and Bourbon barrels all complemented by the coffee.


 

All in all, I really enjoyed this boxset. Big, boozy, indulgent, decadent, rich stouts, all perfect for Christmas season!!

Merry Christmas!

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