• Goose Island sent me several sexy photos of this years’ Bourbon County lineup, but because I am stubborn and prideful I insisted on taking my own.

When I reviewed Goose Island’s Bourbon County beers last year, I explained that I had mixed feelings about stoking the “alarming acquisitive frenzy” surrounding these sought-after limited releases. But I know the Bourbon County train will keep a-rollin’ no matter what I do—and it’s not as though I want to stop it. In fact, the task of actually buying some of this beer will get less aggravating only if Goose Island can make enough so that everybody who wants some can find it.

Goose Island innovation manager Mike Siegel says that the growth in the 2014 Bourbon County program mostly happened here—which means nearly 1,900 barrels filled with BCBS, before you even get to the other four beers. A single distiller couldn’t possibly provide all of them, especially since Goose Island wants wood at least eight years old. This year the brewery acquired barrels from the likes of Heaven Hill, Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey, and Jim Beam (mostly via its Knob Creek brand). That almost makes BCBS a cuvee, right? Here, try this: The next time you’re at a bar enjoying an adorable little snifter of this beer, turn to the person next to you and call it a cuvee. See if you don’t get slapped in the mouth.

The coffee variant accounts for about 230 barrels of the total, the same as last year. From the beginning Goose Island has worked with Intelligentsia for this beer (“They don’t cremate their beans,” says Siegel), and the 2014 coffee is a Rwandan variety called Zirikana. The brewers started early this year with a series of blind cuppings, to exclude the effects of compelling back stories. Once they’d picked a coffee, Intelligentsia set aside 1,800 pounds of green beans, to be roasted and ground only when the beer was ready. “It’s not how you brew that much coffee,” Siegel says. “It’s how you filter that much coffee.” The Goose Island crew ended up with almost 1,200 gallons of double-strength cold brew, which they added to the stout from a small mobile grundy tank after it’d come out of the bourbon barrels.

Erin: Oh my God, this tastes like licking raspberry jam.Nick: That’s damn good. Now here’s the pancakes, right here. I’ve never had a beer like this before. It’s very complex. I feel like it’s outsmarting me.Courtney: This is the one I bought more than once last year. [Long pause.] My mouth is very confused right now. I think I like it? The reoccurring theme for me is that none of them really taste like bourbon.Ed: I don’t know if I can say anything smart about the barleywine. It’s similar to standard BCS in that I could have more than one.Sei Jin: I like it more than last year’s. It’s a little less sweet. Kind of a Frankenstein’s monster of a beer, not a straight barleywine.

Erin: This smells like Whoppers.Nick: It literally smells like a bottle of vanilla extract from the Spice House. It’s the most alcohol heat of any beer we’ve had. Courtney: As a pastry chef, I’m super sensitive to people putting too much vanilla in things. And when people make vanilla beer, they usually put too much in. I can’t drink that. It makes me angry.Sei Jin: I wasn’t a fan of vanilla BCS in the past. And I’m not a fan of this year’s. I think the rye cut some of the sweetness, but I’m still not a fan. But there will be plenty of people who love this.Ed: It’s completely out of whack and way too sweet, but I’m not at all reluctant to keep drinking it.

Courtney: It doesn’t smell as magical as it did last year, but I really like the addition of cinnamon. This is really good.Sei Jin: The flavors blend really well. I think this might age better than last year’s.Nick: This is one of the best beers you could do for yourself when it’s like minus ten degrees outside and you don’t want to leave your house. I’m shocked by how harmonious the flavors are. It’s like Mexican hot chocolate. It’s outstanding fresh—I wouldn’t want to cellar it.Ed: This is so fucking lovely it hurts. The fact that this is Chicago-only makes me soar with municipal pride.Erin: Incredibly balanced. It has a very warming character to it—it’s just very pleasant to keep drinking. Fuck all y’all, Chicago rules. Important beer fact.