6.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Deep black body and modest beige foam. Smells of weak plum, brett yeast. Taste is great sour chocolate, plenty of brett, wood hints. Ends a little thin, alcohol invisible. Pretty good, halfway to greatness.

7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

500ml bottle. (2020 vintage). Pours an opaque black with a medium, creamy, short lived, light brown head that laces. Sweet aroma of roasted malt, burnt sugar, bourbon, dark chocolate, dates, oak and coffee. Sweet flavour of roasted malt, burnt sugar, licorice, dates, dark chocolate and oak in a dry, mild bitter, bourbon warming finish. Full body with a sticky, oily texture and soft carbonation. A little rough around the edges, but a bit of aging would smooth that out.

7

Oddly mismatched barrel and stout. Not as smooth as many others.

7.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Poured from 500mL bottle (2019 vintage). Dark black with tan head. Very roasty malt, burnt sugar, mild alcohol. Good, but no bourbon barrel.

8.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Bottle. Pours a nice inky black with a medium-sized light brown head. Attractive aroma has deep fruitiness, balanced bourbon, dark sugars and a touch of roast. Full body, with nice rich residual sugars. Burnt sugar notes stretch out for a while, but with softer sweetness to balance. Both wood and alcohol provide muscle, but it's well-balanced by the sugars. Complex malts roll over the palate with dark fruits, bitter chocolate and nuanced sugars. All of this goes right through the finish, but then a thwack of bitterness rounds it out. Ok, this is really good. I think with the sugars and fruitiness it should age well, especially if a year or two helps the bitterness drop down a bit, but this good fresh why risk it?

7.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Bottle from The Gull, North Vancouver
Black colour. Nice aroma of roasted malt, burn sugar, alcohol. Smooth mouthfeel; the roasted malt character is dominating, some dark liquorice too, light salt, light alcohol; more roast and burnt sugar in the finish.
No barrel trace, but it's a solid Imperial Stout.

8.1

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

500ml at Alex's. Vintage 2019. Appearance: dark brown with a beige head. Aroma: roasty, inky, maybe some vegetable notes. Taste: along the same lines. Overall: it is a good straight Imperial Stout, but there is definitely NO barrel at all. Not sure how it is possible after spending a year in a barrel.

7.2

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Vintage 2021. 500 ml bottle. Pours black with short tan head. Aromas of inky dark fruit and roasted malts. Flavours of powdery dry chocolate, creamed coffee and roasted malts.Slight sourness in finish. Cannot get much barrel… Much better than previous vintage. 7/4/8/3/13 Vintage 2019. On tap. Pours a very dark brown with little head. Aromas of insecticide, cola, and roasted malts. Flavors follow same with a dose of alcohol. For no head, quite fizzy. Nope. 4/3/5/3/3

5.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5

On tap at St. Augustine's, pours a deep dark brown / near-black with almost no head. Nose explodes with intense whiskey, wood, and alcohol, with a big roasted note in back. Flavour is fairly harsh and brutal, with perfume, whiskey, wood and alcohol. That perfumey character is rather detracting, adding a chaotic element to an already boozy beer. I like the ambition; decent effort, but it needs lots of refinement.