Scottish brewer Innis & Gunn makes products that seem to occupy a middle ground between brews and booze. Technically, they're beers, but they're aged in oak, just like whisky, a practice sadly not more popular in the world of suds. Wood contact extracts a creamy texture and added flavours, ranging from vanilla to fruit to spice. In the case of Innis & Gunn beers, it also extracts whisky. The brews spend time in barrels that once held quality brown spirits (there's a rum-cask beer, too). They're all very good, rich and generally high in alcohol, designed for slow sipping rather than chugging. But this new, special bottling, just released in Ontario, is positively gorgeous. Aged in used Irish-whiskey casks, it's rich and malty, with moderate carbonation, 7.4-per-cent alcohol, creamy texture and notes of plum, prune, coffee and chocolate. Imagine Irish coffee crossed with Guinness and you get the idea.