Boulevard Brewing Co - Rye on Rye (BotW, 2 weeks in a row!)

I'm not cheating, this really is worthy of two weeks in a row as Beer of the Week. Nothing last week even compared, and the week before, it blew out everything I tried in a three day, three bar flurry of tasting. So this is for the last two weeks (up until the 22nd).

Boulevard Rye on Rye

This reddish-brown ale has no real style designation and is straight up all about rye malt and rye whiskey barrels. You can smell the barrels, the spiciness of everything hints at whiskey barrels, and the beer is smooth, creamy, and whiskey-ridden. Not super woody, but present, the aroma is all whiskey and toasted grains. There's a hint of fruit, like dried cherries, underlying the vanilla and whiskey notes. I kind of felt like there's a hint of gimmicky to the beer, in the sense of it being rye malt based ale aged in rye whiskey barrels, but it works  and has a niche in the almost ubiquitous barrel-aging movement. Also, on pure tastes alone, it's one of the more stupendous barrel-aged offerings I've run across since becoming a regular at the Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer. Rye on Rye, coming in at 11% ABV, is a pretty special beer. Bottles should be available wherever you can get Boulevard Smokestack Series bottles.