Dark Horse Scotty Karate

This 9.75% ABV Scotch ale is from the Dark Horse Brewing Company of Marshall, Michigan. It has one of the best beer names ever (apparently named after a local one man band).  What about the beer? Let's see.

The beer pours a very dark brown, burnt orange to garnet. There is a short head of light tan foam. The aroma is sweet malt, dark fruits, tangy, with a whiff of peat smoke. The taste follows the aromas, sweet malt, rich caramel, dark fruits, touch of peat smoke. The finish is quite dry. The beer is smooth, with a fine, tingling carbonation. It drinks relatively easy for its high ABV. There is a combination of flavor and mouthfeel in this that combines high oak with artificial sweetener.  It is the one drawback to this beer. The bottle provides no information, does any one know if this was aged on oak?  If so, it would explain the mouthfeel, if not, then it's a problem for this beer.