Pōkeno Imperial Stout

Pōkeno Imperial Stout Cask is a limited edition single malt from Pōkeno Distillery in New Zealand, created as a collaboration with Behemoth Brewing and bottled at 46.2% ABV. Released into New Zealand and European markets including the UK, it’s a small scale bottling built to push the house style into darker, roasted territory without losing control of balance.

The cask story is the entire point of the whisky. A barrel that previously held Pōkeno Origin for its full maturation was filled with Behemoth Imperial Stout, then returned to Pōkeno and refilled with single malt that had already matured for almost nine months in a first fill bourbon cask. This creates a stout conditioned wood layer on top of a distillate forward bourbon cask foundation, so the finish expresses roasted malt compounds and dark beer congeners through the oak rather than relying on heavy wine sweetness.

In flavour terms, it lands richer and more savoury than the core range. You get dark chocolate, toasted cereal and coffee like roast up front, then sweet oak and caramelised sugars through the mid palate, finishing firmer and drier with cocoa, toast and a controlled bitterness that reads as structure rather than sharpness.