Our Impression:We love a great imperial stout, and we prefer those with a semi-sweet malt body without too much roasted harshness.  Not too long ago we evolved away from Storyteller, our old imperial stout, in search of something fresher and more memorable.  Storyteller was always aged in bourbon barrels, and although the aging process brought a nice oaky, bourbon character to the beer, we always noticed a loss in life compared to our favorite commercial examples.  This is mostly due to oxidation in the barrel and seasonal warm temperatures in our barrel ageing room.  We decided to brew a fresh version, with more smoked malt and more hops, and we landed on Dead of Winter.  We also have a barrel aged version, which spends about a month in the barrel, as opposed to the 3-6 months of Storyteller, maintaining more of the fresh character that we love!