Barrel-Aged Narwhal
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Pours a dark brown chocolate with a lighter brown head. Aroma is sweet roast and caramel & oak & stone fruit. Taste is excellent, just the right blend of sweet & bitter. Easy sipping beer. Wish I had more. BOD 4-27-2022

Poured at 62 degrees, tastes better a bit when cooler. Canned 11/24/2025

Look: Extremely dark brownish-red with a high milk chocolate head that has marginal retention and leaves no lacing whatsoever.
Smell: Lots of bourbon with a toffee backbone.
Taste: Very bourbon-forward. Some chocolatey sweetness but not cloying. On my subsequent (and cooler) cans I noticed some nice French Vanilla.
Feel: Heavy in the mouth with medium carbonation. Slight alcoholic burn is noticeable and does bring my score down a bit.
Overall: Underwhelming when compared to the original Narwhal, but this beer did grow on me over time. It’s not an outstanding brew, but I’d still recommend trying it.

It's extremely bitter, no sweetness to balance the bitterness, and has a very thin mouthfeel. I'm a fan of regular Narwhal, but I have never been able to drink an entire glass of the BA version. It's also very boozy and the barrel overwhelms the beer.

Buy again - absolutely not
Recommend it - absolutely not.

Poured the pint can into a snifter.
Surprisingly the thin khaki head was fizzy and dissipated quickly.
The aroma and flavor share a decent remnant of bourbon barrel aging. The flavor is of dark roasted caramelized malt, vanilla, and hints of molasses.
There are coconut, cocoa, and coffee flavors that lurk among the light-medium mouthfeel.

I recall having this years ago on draught, as a more flavorful and substantial brew.
Not quite as good as I remember it.

 

 

Opaque black with small ruby highlights and a nice tan head of foam.
The aroma is bourbon, figs and plums, vanilla and leather.
The taste is bourbon, figs, plums, toasted malt, oak, vanilla, caramel, dark chocolate, espresso, coconut, brown sugar, leather, a bit of burnt toast and some alcohol and herbal notes, sweet with moderate bitterness to balance. The body is full, moderate carbonation, oily smooth with a well hidden ABV, very drinkable.
Altogether, this is a great Imperial stout, big flavors, good balance and an impressive ABV, this would be a great dessert sipper and a nice sub for winter warmer, great by a fire on a winter day (or actually anytime), outstanding.

(review from December 2021) See previous reviews of various vintages of Narwhal & add notes of chocolate, vanilla, coconut & a barely detectable twinge of any kind of barrel aging. Incredibly smooth fooler of an 11.9%er that drinks like much less. Sure had hoped for a LOT more!

The pour is motor oil black with a tan & frothy head of foam. The body is medium to full & on the taste I'm getting some rich roasted malt, bourbon barrel oak, dark chocolate, raisin, coffee, coconut, & tobacco char. Moreover, the 12.9% abv drinks more like a 9% abv beer. Cheers! A (World Class)

 

Rich, barrel-aged notes very apparent in both taste and mouthfeel. Minimal alcohol burn for a near-12abv brew. Cold season sipper (pint can lasts awhile).
This can is ‘fresh’ (Autumn 2025 canning). Imagine it would be insanely smooth in a year or two.

Barrel aged Narwhal

Canned 2/6/2024, enjoyed 10/25, 20 months later. Thanks to @papagoose03 for this one!

Pours as expected, just a wonderful looking stout. The aroma is full of barrel notes, a hit of bourbon upfront with hints of vanilla and tobacco leaf. The sip follows, with dark roast coffee, leather, and cacao nibs on the back end. Finishes smoothly, belying its strength.

 

Lovely pour, plenty of dark brown head that fades quickly, then leaves a small ring for the rest of the glass.

Smell is a bit too one note, initially somewhat sharp alcohol, then toasty coffee, Bourbon spice and vanilla.

Taste is the same, I'm no sure if it's because the beer is so dry, but the alcohol is way to present.

Feel is rather fizzy. Not too bad, could be better

 

 

Poured from pint can into pint glass.
A: Pours a thick and extremely dark black brown hue with 1/4 tablespoons much frothy super dark mocha head that fairly quickly settles to a thin skim.
S: Potent aroma with sweet bourbon hitting from over a foot away! Molasses, dark brown sugar, oak, vanilla, and hints of dark chocolate and espresso.
T: Strong and lovely bourbon elements of soft oak, vanilla, coconut, barrel char, and creme brûlée. More subtle notes of dark chocolate and leather.
M: Medium heavy body. Strong barrel char and dark sweet notes. Mildly dry. Soft and slightly creamy feel. Lingers and matures beautifully on the palate with a boozy (but still quite manageable) finish.
D: Such superb barrel notes! One of the best bourbon barrel aged beers out there. A lovely sipper. Seek it out!

Black with thin beige head. Rich aroma of chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and wood. Sweet taste with smooth roasted bitterness and a hint of alcohol. Warming, bourbon finish. Great for sharing with a friend.

This poured a big beige frothy head into my 2018 KBS Barrel-Aged glass. And as quickly as it formed, it disappeared with a hiss of carbonation.
That's one boozy chocolate nose.
The flavor is roasty, of course, with coconut coming through as well as espresso, vanilla and barrel slats. I do like a good barrel char.
The mouthfeel is creamy; the finish, boozy. The ABV did not sneak up on me. It announced itself: "C'est moi!"