UPDATED: DEC 25, 2021 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.

UPDATED: DEC 25, 2021 Bottle from brewery. Slightly messy burnt aroma. Taste of chocolate and leather, roasty. Bitter finish. Good enough.

UPDATED: APR 15, 2021 375ml bottle @ home. Pours an opaque black shade with a medium brown head. Nose is medium roasted malt and hints of bourbon with woody note. Flavour is rich malts, mostly toward a bitter roast character, gentle licorice, a touch of ashtray, light bourbon, and a touch of barrel. Thick bodied, good carbonation, and a moderate sweetness that keeps the bitterness in check and fairly balanced. Impressive brew from the brewery, with room for improvement. Smooth out that malt profile and give us more barrel character.

UPDATED: MAR 7, 2021 Bottle from BCL bought in December 2019 for $12 CAD, cellared for 1 year. Attack: bubbly crisp Mids: bitter roast, boozy, thick dark barley malt, lvl5-sweetness, dates, barrel woody Finish: lingering astringent bitter Overall: pretty harsh as far as BA stouts go, this one is too boozy, carbonated mouthfeel is not fine, and malts are are unrefined. At least the barrel flavour is there.

UPDATED: MAR 23, 2020 Bomber purchased locally in Greater Vancouver. An inky liquid with a tan head and a nose suggestive of cocoa, coffee and heavily roasted malts. Rich on the palate but not overly sweet. A trace bitter, actually, from the roast, not hop bitterness. Not much of a barrel note here, I have to say.

UPDATED: MAR 20, 2020 Poured from 500mL bottle (2019 vintage). Dark black with tan head. Very roasty malt, burnt sugar, mild alcohol. Good, but no bourbon barrel.

UPDATED: FEB 29, 2020 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?

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.

UPDATED: FEB 2, 2020 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.

UPDATED: JAN 2, 2022 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