Today's homebrew is a Flavored Stout with rum and raisin. The Cuban rum wasn't poured in the wort as such but instead I let American heavy toast oak chips soak in the rum for quite some time. The oak chips were applied in the wort. The oaked rum I poured down the throat. 😆😋 Opaque, black beer fills the glass. The carbonation is, again, decent despite being part of the same bigger batch as the overfrothy chocolate banana stout. A beautiful, beige, silky head covers first the surface and then disperses to a neat lace ring. Retention seems to last long. The olfactory experience is truly impotent: I do catch roasted malt, licorice and a tiny injection of maple syrup, but all in negligible volumes. Unlike the scent, the taste is more prominent due to the rum soaked oak chips. The flavor of rum itself is really soft and modestly oaky. The toastedness I can't identify even the oak chips were "heavy toast". I remember the roasty fragrance of the chips when I used them but that particular component was never transfered to the beer itself. Therefore, the chips acted only as a vehicle for the rum to flavor the beer. It could have evidently been any wood chips, not necessarily specifically American heavy toast ones. Raisin dances seductively in the background. I can also pick dark malt with a bit dry twist as well as some licorice root. The body is light. That's not really a winning bet. The finish displays, quite unexpectedly, more raisin than upfront. Moreover, a tad dark, faintly roasted malt and a pinch of licorice complete the end. The oaky whisper is barely detectable whereas rum vanishes from the taste receptors entirely. The aftertaste meets a Caribbean queen and promises the tastebuds that there's no more love on the run. The mouthfeel is astonishingly light, which is also the biggest deficiency of this beer. The mouthfeel is soft and smooth, even velvety. It's surprising as I expected rum and oak chips to rather make it edgy. Well, I was wrong. Good for the beer though. Quite successful but, of course, more of everything is our next target.