Siren / Cigar City Barrel Aged Caribbean Chocolate Cake (-2018)

First available at Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2016 (Yellow session) at 8.4%.
Bourbon Barrel Aged Tropical Stout with Cacao Nibs & Cypress Wood. The barrel aged version has been ageing in a selection of bourbon barrels, picking up delicious vanilla, whiskey and wood character.

3.9

154 reviews

Finchampstead, England

Community reviews

3.7 Bottle pour. Almost black. Woody sea shore aroma. Full bodied with notes of chocolate with the bourbon and vanilla and combining to taste like rum. The cypress is different in that it gives it a flat mellow note. Note absurdly heavy. Delicious and nicely balanced.

4.3 Really dark brown color with mocha head. Aroma has some savory umami notes, chocolate with rum filling, fudge and fresh cut wood chips. Taste follows with wood notes, chocolate, whiskey, fudge, toffee and a light bitterness on the finish. Medium plus body with soft carbonation. Really well balanced stout with intense wood character.

3.7 Bottle at home. Opaque black color, full sized brown colored head. Aroma is malts, some vanilla notes. Flavor is malts, light vanilla, a bit sweet, some chocolate yes but not as much as I had expected which slightly disappoints me. However, overall the beer is quite nice. Softer and lower in intensity than I had expected but with quite some finesse. Pleasant.

4.1 Short creamy brown body stayed on a jet black still body. Cointreau, sweet berry & Christmas cake aroma Medium bodied,bdmpoth over the palate with a light clean finish. Orange, sweet citrus, light spirits, marzipan & jam tastes.

4.1 Tap at Half Barrel event. Dark pour one finger beige head very pretty. Nose is rich chocolate some coconut and barrel. Tastes of vanilla and booze from barrel, rich chocolate, coconut, dark fruit, molasses. Smooth bodied. Finished fruit and hooch. Lovely.

4.3 330 ml bottle into snifter, best before 11/29/2021. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger dense and rocky dark tan head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cypress wood, vanilla, cream, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, and dark bread; with lighter notes of coconut, molasses, licorice, wood smoke, raisin, prune, fig, date, herbal, leather, tobacco, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. A bit too fruity/yeasty, and mild booze in the aromas as it warms; but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, lactose, cocoa nib, cypress wood, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cypress wood, vanilla, cream, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, and dark bread; with lighter notes of coconut, molasses, licorice, wood smoke, raisin, prune, fig, date, herbal, leather, tobacco, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Mild herbal/roast bitterness, and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cypress wood, vanilla, cream, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, dark bread, coconut, molasses, licorice, wood smoke, dark fruit, herbal, leather, tobacco, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, lactose, cocoa nib, cypress wood, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a solid roasted bitter/sweet, and bourbon/oak/wood spiciness balance; with no cloying/acrid flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/roast bitterness an bourbon/wood/oak spiciness after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and lightly sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Minimal warming alcohol for 8.4%, with no barrel booze lingering after the finish. Overall this is an amazing English imperial milk stout! All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, lactose, cocoa nib, cypress wood, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; extremely smooth and easy to sip on with the mildly bitter/tannic/drying finish. Perfectly balanced rich malts, cocoa nibs, lactose, cypress wood, and bourbon barrel presence/integration; with mild fruity yeast and earthy hops against sweetness. A highly amazing offering, and top tier style example all around.

3.8 330 ml bottle. Pours an inky black with full head. Aromas of chocolate icing, licorice, green wood and slick roasted malts. Flavors follow same. A very nice sweet export stout.

3.6 Sampled at Taphouse Copenhagen. Medium high fluffy lasting dark brown head. Pitch black body. Powerful wineous roasted malt coffee caramel aroma and, flavor with little hops bitterness, low carbonation and a long finish.

3.8 A lot of barrel aged beers don't strongly effect flavour but this is one where the barrel ageing defines the taste. Oak, bourbon, vanilla and a fruity tang are very notable and add a layer of flavour the other versions of this beer don't have. I'm not the biggest fan of oak and bourbon so it's my least favourite but this really delivers on its description

4.0 Draught at Taphouse. Black coloured with a small beige head. Sweet and roasted aroma of chocolate, spices and oak. Roasted flavour of caramel, chocolate and spices with notes of oak. Roasted finish.

4.1 Wow. Øl fra øverste hylde. Masser af fylde of velsmag. Tilpas humle og bitterhed. Indbydende aroma.

4.0 Bottle Aroma-chocolate, vanilla Appearance-black, hazy, brown foam Taste-medium sweeetness, light sourness Palate-full body, creamy, average carbonation, long finish Overall-very good

3.7 Wydaje się nieco słabsze niż podstawka. W aromacie mnie czekolady i kakao na rzecz borubonu i tanin. W smaku słodkie kakao, niuanse wnailii i alkoholowy finisz.

4.4 Flarra krokius. Färg = egentligen helt meningslöst på en imp Stout är ju Svart som natten. Doftar 75% ig choklad och lite lagrad träfat och svagt sprit. I munnen är det galet god choklad och choklad och sen choklad sen lagrat fat. Supergod imp Stout med bara ETT problem. Och det är tok hög kolsyra. Det sänker betyget.

4.4 Flarra på Krokius. Doft som får mig att hamna på Österlenchoklad. Massvis av choklad. Smaken följer samma spår. Choklad kokos fatlagrad o en liten fin beska som grädde på moset. Jag har nog aldrig druckit en öl med så mycket chokladkänsla, bara det!

4.0 Pours thick, oily black with a thin, dark tan head. Aroma is cocoa, vanilla and bourbon. Taste is dark chocolate and plum, moving to vanilla, coffee, wood and roast. Finish is vanilla and bourbon. An outstanding stout.

3.8 On tap at Gist. Black colour, beige head. Aroma of Chocomel, milkchocolate, roast, oak, berries, wood, cocoa beans, coffee. Flavour is medium sweet to sweet, berries, roast, dark chocolate, Chocomel, vanilla, some bourbon, bittersweet finish. Medium to full bodied.

4.1 330 ml bottle from Beer Hawk, bb 29/11/2021. Black, tan head. Nose - bourbon, cocoa, wood. Taste - bourbon, dark chocolate.

4.3 From tap at Taplokaal Gist, Utrecht. Pure milk chocolate smell. Aroma is big chocolate cake aroma with notes of cinnamon, soft woody notes, more sweet milk chocolate, light coffee. Flavour is medium sweet with an above moderate roasty bitterness. Body is above medium. Very much up my alley. Roasty bitterness, barrel is pretty subtle, delicious stuff, so much chocolate.

3.8 Bottle bought at the brewery tap. Rich fruity and chocolatey aroma, with a boozey depth to it. Thick dark beige head. Dark and glossy. Light bitter with a sweet edge. Chocolate, dark fruit and spice. The barrel aging adds warmth but does not overpower the original beer. Heavy bodied. Creamy. Flat carbonation. Slightly astringent finish.

4.0 Sort med luftigt brunt skum. Dufter af chokolade og kakao - mere klart defineret end den udgave, der ikke har ligget på fad. Desuden kaffe, let bourbon og fadpræg. Smager af kakao, kaffe, vanilje. God balance mellem sødme, bitterhed og tør finish med fadpræg. Kompleks og alligevel lettilgængelig.

3.8 Bottle. It pours opaque black with a creamy beige head. The aroma is whiskey, sweet roasted malt, spices, light chocolate and light coffee. Wood notes. The flavor is bitter and moderate sweet. Long roasted finish. Nice.

4.0 15cl tap 16zł @Pułapka. Ladna drobnoziarnista ciemnobrazowa piana. Aromat egzotycznego drewna. W smaku cukier trzcinowy, kwaskowate egzotyczne owoce (mango, marakuja), wanilia, przyjemny destylat, slodka czekolada. Alkohol niewyczuwalny, nie rozgrzewa. 4/5.

3.9 Alkohol praktycznie niewyczuwalny, fajna czekolada bardzo, wyraźna beczka, kawa.

4.1 Duft ristet malt kaffe soja kaffe vanilje chokolade smag ristet malt sprut kaffe malt sødme ristet malt brun sukker

3.8 Bottle from Etre Gourmet. Black color, beige head. Bitter taste with roasted malts, bourbon, oak, coffee, chocolate and cacao. Bitter finish with roasted malts, bourbon, coffee, cacao, chocolate and coffee. Very nice imperial stout, altough a bit light on body.

3.8 Couleur noire, bonne mousse beige. Fort nez sur le chêne, chocolaté. Gout malté chocolaté, biscuit, avec palais chêne, note vanillée-caramel-lactose puis bonne amertume grillée et un peu reglisse. Corps bien épais. L'amertume est bien longue. Pas mal!

3.7 Pours black, tanned head. Smell is full, boozy rather sharp ( almost more like rum than bourbon). Taste is full, sharp, bit boozy ( milder than the scent). Sweet, milk chocolate. Bit of an almost minty freshness. Decently creamy body. Médium carbonation. Nice, but not the best version so far.

3.5 Bottle that Geraint and Helen kindly picked up for us, cheers you two! Consumed at home Christmas Day, Tuesday 25th December 2018. Whilst cooking Venison and Wild Mushroom Wellington, Brussels with Prosciutto, Delia's very posh Christmas red cabbage, posh carrots. We're listening to 6 Music after a busy morning doing some plastering and painting. Pours black with a rapidly disappearing head. I like this but keep thinking that I possibly prefer the standard version. Thick in the mouth, boozy, vanilla, chocolate. The barrel ageing clearly being noted on the nose and also in the mouth, however in respect of this beer I am not seeing that it is adding anything. It's good but not as good as the regular version. A7 A3 T7 P4 Ov14 3.5

3.7 330ml bottle. Pours jet black with a large head. Aroma is woody chocolate and minty bourbon. Taste is woody to start. Chocolate throughout with bourbon on the finish.