BrewDog Tactical Nuclear Penguin

Brewed by BrewDog
Style: Imperial Stout
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Serve in Snifter

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Smells of marmitey hop whiskey (if it existed) - variously sweet, savoury, and alcoholic. Sits flat and angry in the glass; looks like wood varnish, a deep mahogany fluid that has no head, no carbonation, just a glorious ruby tint. Flavours of burnt toffee, wood, alcohol burn, alcohol, alcohol burn, and some alcohol. Imagine a hopped whiskey, make it slightly better than you’d imagine, then you have this.

I stood there at first with my nose stuck in the glass. It’s a really nice nose. Of course it’s boozy as hell. Mixture of Whiskey, Vanilla, Caramel, and Oak. It’s smokey and woody. I thought the smell was really well done here. Then I got to the taste. Like I said above, I was not quite ready. The burn on this one is huge and it got stuck in my throat. I almost lost my first full sip on the floor but luckily as Mom always told me “Don’t chew with your mouth open” I just couldn’t believe the hotness on this one. It was like sucking down moonshine. But the next few sips were just fine as I ready for the barrage of hotness. The taste of course is full of that alcohol burn but more flavors seem to somehow come through. Charred oak, toffee, roasted malt, and caramel. There’s a certain sweetness to the beer but it’s overshadowed by the alcohol and the smokey and sometimes charred wood effect. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and a tad bit syrupy. There’s no carbonation and no head. It’s pretty much a dead beer. I enjoyed it at room temperature and I believe it’s the only way to actually enjoy it. You would lose a lot of the flavor if you took this baby out of the fridge and had it. Honestly if you get a bottle, treat it like Utopias. Don’t put it in the fridge. Leave it out and enjoy it.

smoky, flat, really intense and warming. Blackish colour and a long finish,

Brown. Black? Smells like apples and booze. And gasoline. Flat. Taste is apples and booze. Oak? Well, now I can say I’ve had that one.

Bought a 375ml bottle with 3 of my friends. Went in it expecting nothing special, mainly it it for the experience. But i was pleasantly surprised. Cracked this with no pop as the cork came out. Poured into 4 small shot sized snifters. Forced a head on it that disappeared within seconds. Deep dark brown but translucent similar to a dark whiskey. Smelled of deep figs, roast and a little boozy. This is were i was surprised the most. actually expecting to retain zero qualities of beer but instead though it tasted of sweet liquor with a nice chocolate roast at the end "just enough to realize it was still a beer". Piney hops barely noticeable but there seemed to help dry out the beers taste and counteract the sweetness. Oaky taste on the sides of the tongue as well. I feel if your a fan of liquor as well as beer you could appreciate the finer qualities in this beer. Defiantly not worth the price tag, but overall glad i got to enjoy this.

Pours dark brown amber no head. Aroma us BW lke, hoppy, fruity, malty and sweet. Flavor similar to aroma, bitter and a bit too boozy. Finishes. Bitter,malty and fruity..

Shared bottle thanks to my beer pal Kim. Pours pitch black with no head at all. Aroma is aceton and shoepolish, nothing good in my world. Taste is strong soy sauce, heavy burning alcohol,extreme in all ways, except drinkability. Never again. King is undressed.

Bottled 375ml. -Online from BrewDog - Batch 19. Poured dark, no head. Very strong smells, especially alcohol and hints of port wine - took breath away a little. Sniffed for ages before finally taking tastes which imparted smokey molasses taste with again a rum cask port wine flavour - could have tricked someone that they were drinking a strong port instead of beer. The warmer the beer got it mellowed into nice sipper. I was having Penguin not expecting a great deal from the teste but having it mainly for the sake of saying I had tasted one - but it was also a nice beer and I appreciated the experience. (This was 1 of 28 different BrewDog beers my son and I consumed over past week - all but one great)

Bottled 375ml. -from Slovenian BrewDog outlet in Koper. Batch No. 012 Amber/brown coloured, no head at all. I’m so sure about the nose. Wood, alcohol and smoke which are partially nice but also partially repulsive. Strong roasted malt, dark chocolate and tar with burning alcohol. Intensive and long-lasting smokey alcoholic finish and aftertaste. Like this one.

Thanks to my good friend Jon Montgomery for pouring me a couple of ounces from his bottle! Tasted on 12/28/2011. Colour: Very dark brown with dark low but firm head. Nose: Lots of dark fruits...candied figs, blackberries, prunes. Whisps of peated smoke, motor oil, burnt caramel and old oak. Taste: Medium sweet, medium bitter, medium sour. The 32% is well hidden in the layers of oak and heavy salted butter. Toffee plays about.... mid palate brings out some honeyed fruits and then whisky arrives late and is wrapped in a solid bitterness. I was pleasently surprised by this stuff and the 2 ounces I did drink was enough to give it a fair judgement. Well done BrewDog.