Cigar City Humidor Series Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Imperial Stout
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle @ Hotelroom after Boulder Strong Ale fest. Pours black with a creamy light brown head. Aroma of hard roasted malts, dark chocolate, wood, spicy. Taste is hard roasted malts, dark chocolate, wood ( cedar ) green tobacco, cinnamon, spicy. Medium body, soft carbonation. Nice at first, but the strong tobacco, spicyness gets to be to much for me. 090312

750ml bottle shared by GT2: Pours an oily dark mahogany with a spotty-lacing froth of dark tan head. Has a rich, sweet dark chocolate and caramel nose with some toasted cedar and espresso notes. Starts with good rich fullness and dark caramel and chocolate sweetness with a complex cedar flavor before a rich dark fruity finish with some lingering chocolate notes. An enjoyable and full-flavored imperial stout.

750mL thanks to markwise. Ink SRM with larger deep mocha, menacing head. Hilarious pour. Nose is sharp cedar/toasted Spanish cigar box with green olives and black peppercorn. Taste is tangy lemon, citric, with some drying cocoa powder. Sharp, tangy lemon tea base. Still not a fan of this base beer no matter hard I try. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottle shared by GT2. Pours opaque, like used motor oil, with a dark brown, frothy head, medium retention with good lacing. Aroma is light alcohol, smoke, roast and chocolate malt with earthy hops and dark fruits of figs, prunes and licorice notes. Flavor is malt dominant with cedar, prunes and licorice, pepper and sweet finish. Full body, medium warmth and carbonation.

My Bottom Line:
This ridiculously viscous Imperial Stout combines peppery cedar and overt molasses, as roastiness attempts to salvage the sloppiness.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A creamy head of foam settles upon the impenetrable darkness. This is one of the darkest brews I’ve ever seen.
-The mouthfeel on this one is actually close to molasses. As close to motor oil as it gets in the beer world, I presume. Nearly impossible to drink in more than tiny sips.
-Hops get lost within the cedar and obese residual sugars.
-Carbonation is too low to make this feel good on the palate.
-Sadly, this feels like a severely underattenuated Zhukov on which life-saving wood aging was attempted.

Bottle. Thx for the opportunity, Eric !

Bottle in hotel room after Boulder Strong Ale Fest, courtesy of markwise. Thanks Mark! Deep black appearance with a big, dark brown head. Rich cedar woody, deep chocolate malty, a bit spicy, coffee aroma. Big, rich, dark chocolate malty, huge cedar woody, quite spicy, light coffee flavor. At first, this beer is quite enjoyable but the spiciness really starts to become overwhelming after a while.

750 ml bottle poured a translucent dark brown nearly black with a lingering ring of brown foam. Aromas of cedar, dark chocolate, roastiness and light vanilla. Palate was medium bodied and smooth. Flavors of cedar, bitter chocolate, roastiness and a hint of vanilla with a smooth lingering roasty cedar finish.

Bottle thanks to the bestest brother in the world, ericandersnavy. Pours a viscous black with extremly dark copper/dark chocolate head. Aroma of baking cocoa, cedar, dark roasted grain with alcohol spice. Flavor is very rich, aggressive notes of cedar, baking cocoa, quadruple shot of espresso, dark roasted grain strong alcohol spice with an aggressive dark roasted bitterness. Very heavy and silky smooth body with low carbonation. Outstanding stout!!!

Bottle at the brewery: Poured a deep thick oily black with a thin brown head. The aroma is cedar, chocolate, and coffee. The taste is like sex in your mouth, very deep dark chocolate with coffee edge. The cedar gives it a soft wood presence that makes it pop to the tongue. I shared this at a Korean home brewers event and it was all the rave!

motor oil black with dark brown leather chocolate head. Looks thick as heck. Small notes of cedar but mostly plum, coffee, chocolate and more coffee and chocolate. Cedar is most evident in the mouth, as get a very dry finish. Long lasting feel as well. Solid, solid, solid beer