Cigar City Big Sound Scotch Ale Bourbon Barrel Aged

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Scotch Ale
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in Thistle

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My god CCB does it again. Amazing. Dark brown pour, tan head. Aroma is really wonderful. Tons of bourbon, toffee, vanilla, oak and dark dried fruit. Flavor is loaded with smooth oak and bourbon notes, some vanilla, caramel, light smoke and holy hell what a mouthfeel. This one is a big step up from the regular big sound. WOW. But what do I konw, I am just a homer.

Bottle from Mane Liquor. Pours long black with a small lightly yellowed head. Nose is bourbon straight up. As it warms, loads of coconut and lamington tones come out. Awesome. Taste is very coconut forward with light vanilla tones and bourbon all round. It’s like a chocolate, coconut scroll. Crazy beer. Hugely unique. Freaking good. Finishes with a sharp coconut covered date tone. Perfect. Unbelievable beer

Bottle big thanks to ericandersnavy. Murky brown appearance. Sweet brown malty nose. Lots of rich chocolate and coffee. Taste is wonderful. All sweet chocolate and solid coffee. So tasty. This is wonderful.

UPDATED: APR 3, 2012 From the 3/2012 3R6P tasting. Simply amzaing.+++Sampled from a 750 ml brown bottle this beer poured thick, black and oily with a medium sized foamy beige head that lingered and left good lacing. The aroma was vanilla, cocoa, coconut, sweet malts and chocolate syrup. The flavor was vanilla, chocolate syrup, coconut, toasty malts, light fruity hops and a hint of cream. The finish was long cream, vanilla, coconut and chocolate syrup. Thick and full body. Wonderful

Bottle from JdubFL - thanks! Reddish-brown pour with an aroma of vanilla, bourbon, dark fruits and brown sugar. Flavor has maple, vanilla/wood/bourbon, chocolate, dark fruits, and assorted sweet goodies. Monster mouthfeel - this is awesome and gives Alesmith’s BA Wee Heavy a run for its money.

Damn. This is good. Real good. Very sweet, though. Like a dessert, but not overly sweet that you can’t easily drink an entire bottle on your own. The bourbon barrel aging almost adds a more caramel maltiness to the already malty scotch ale. A lot of toffee, caramel, brown sugar and milk chocolate on top of a malt bomb. There’s a little oak and the bourbon is sweet and accentuates everything. This is amazingly good and easy to drink. This would be on my Top Ten list for beers to drink for the rest of my life.

22oz wax sealed bottle (#60). Pours a burnt mahogany, relatively clear. Big foamy off white head. Nose is huge caramel and bourbon notes. A bit of wood and a whiff of smoke. Flavor is very bourbony up front but recedes enough to let the scotch ale breathe. Caramel and chocolate dominate this version where the fruitiness of the normal big sound is more subdued here. Less fruit esters and more complex malt. Finishes with a slight cherry pit and big caramel flavor. Slightly warming with a touch of sweet bourbon. Another terrific barrel aged beer.

750 mL bottle... #214/246. Courtesy of tarheels86. Pours a hazy dark brown color with not much of a head. The aroma is sublime. Caramel, toffee, leafy hops, vanilla, maple, bourbon, faint smokiness, booze and green apple. Taste is caramel, toffee, bourbon, wood, faint smoky notes, leafy hops, something faintly cheesy. Full bodied and very smooth. The regular Big Sound is a phenomenal beer but the bourbon works with this too well. This is epic. Fantastic beer.

Pours a deep brown with tan head. Nose is bourbon, wood, some smoke, alcohol, roasted grain, raisin, and sweet caramel. Flavor is dark fruits, whiskey, vanilla, wood, some charred grain, plum, raisin and caramel. The bourbon is so very smooth. Makes this beer very very enjoyable.

Sampled from bottle. Poured a caramel color with a small tan head. Aroma was smooth, vanilla, with notes of chocolate, toffee, malts. Flavor was smooth woody vanilla, with a touch of perfectly sweet chocolate and malt. After having the base beer and then the extremely disappointing Rum variety, this one was *awesome*.