Cigar City Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout - Bourbon Barrel-aged

Formerly brewed at Cigar City Brewing
Style: Imperial Stout
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in Snifter

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Nearly black pour with a brownish/red head. Aroma, holy fuck. Chocolate, cocunut, bourbon, oak, chiles, cinnamon, toffee, and more. Flavor..oak, bourbon, chili peppers, spices, chocolate, caramel. Chili heat is noticeable as it warms!! Amazing.

Thanks to Solan and Degarth for this. From the 32oz growler. Pours a thick black oil like with a dark tan head. Huge aroma of vanilla cookies, chocolate, roasted grain, velvety. Taste is thick roasted grain, chocolate, bourbon, and tangy citrus hops. So powerful that I had to clean the glass twice to get the flavor out. Just a beast of a brew and wonderful.

UPDATED: APR 1, 2012 Growler… This beer rocks!… Pours tar black with a small, creamy, light brown head. Decent retention. Aroma-wise, the chocolate malt, black malt, bourbon, oak and subsequent vanilla and caramelized notes result in an aroma not unlike coconut macaroons (thanks for summing it all up, Cheez). Smells better than a freshly shaved and strawberry-douched vagina – I kid you not. Full-bodied and ultra velvety with subdued carbonation. The hearty, luxuriant flavor is a bittersweet mélange of vanilla, bourbon, mocha and cinnamon. Toward the end, I pick up chili flavor, but no heat. Wow. So complex, but so simple and decadent at the same time. Much like a sliver of a home baked pecan pie. The finish, much like the flavor, is hearty and rich with afterthoughts of vanilla and cinnamon and finally, at the wee end - heart-warming bitterness. Thanks to SoLan and Degarth for sharing this growler of world class beer! I wish this were bottled so more people could enjoy it.

@RLRL with Orlando group-thanks to Degarth and SoLan-1QT growler-pours a dark brown head that disappears and black color. Aroma is rich dark malt-chocolate/licorice, bourbon, earthy, easy. Taste is dark malt-chocolaty/licorice, bourbon, earthy/wood, alcohol kick. Sipping. Well done, occasional.

UPDATED: APR 9, 2010 Pours deep darkness with full mocha looking head. The aroma is amazing and comes up just shy of knee buckling. I get thick rich fudge chocolate rum cake, a thicket of vanilla, some oak, roasty malts and then a light amount of bourbon way in the back. I would be just fine tugging on this aroma all day. The taste begins with thick velvety dark chocolate and roasty to nearly burnt malts. It then quickly picks up fudge brownie, vanilla, some modest oak and a touch of earthiness to mingle with dark chocolate and roastiness. It ends with bourbon building to just beyond a noticeable level allowing for only a barely detectable sliver of chili heat (if I didn’t know it was in there I doubt I would have noticed it). Great mouth feel and lots and lots of yum.

Some samples I’ve had were in the barrel too long. As a consequence some of the tasty goodness of Hunaphu was over-run by boozy sweetness.4.7 goes to a 4.4

Growler, courtesy of the man himself, Degarth. The pour yields an absolutely pitch black, thick, and oily looking body. The impenetrable liquid is crowned with a smooth, dark brown head of foam that leaves jagged flares and splotches of lacing on the glass.

The aroma is absolutely incredible, and I truly mean that. Its decadence rivals...no...surpasses that of the most delectable chocolate fudge cake. Layer after layer, wave after wave, notes of rich cocoa, dark chocolate, coconut macaroons, and vanilla beans drift back and forth. Coffee roast stands up to the chocolate, balancing the nose out incredibly well. Warming chili pepper notes prove the perfect compliment, cutting through the dark, creamy richness nicely. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the smooth, oaky bourbon, which just wraps everything up in a warm blanket of vanilla. After smelling this thing for a few minutes, I want to eat it with a fork.

The flavor? Insane. Take one part German chocolate cake and one part Mounds bar, sprinkle in a dash of zesty (but not hot) chili pepper, mix in some mocha for roast and some bourbon for warmth, and top it with vanilla bean. Blend that sucker down and what do you get? You get what I consider to be the most delicious stout on planet Earth....that’s what you get. This stuff is decadent beyond belief. Chocolaty, roasty, smooth, and delicious. The peppers offer complexity for days, and provide a lingering finish that reminds you: "Wow, I’m a lucky man to have just tried that."

The palate is slick and viscous, smooth as can be, and somewhat oily initially. However, if there’s a single flaw in this beer, this is where I would find it. Nit-picking to the nth degree, and comparing this to the regular Hunahpu’s, I’d suggest that the barrel aging has thinned the mouthfeel just a little, and the additional peppers lend perhaps just a shade to much prickliness on the tongue. Still, it’s damn near perfect.

I was publicly skeptical of the idea of barrel aging of this beer, because I didn’t think it could get any better. I realize now that I should just shut my mouth and trust the artist. One shouldn’t doubt Michelangelo for attempting to master the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and I shouldn’t have doubted Wayne Wambles’ ability to master the imperial stout. Bravo Wayne! Bravo!

Growler and sample courtesy Degarth. Take Hunahpu and add some biscuity macaroon and hints of bourbon and this is what you get. The chiles brighten up the finish as the beer approaches room temp, not hot, just lively. Decidedly not thinned out from the barrel time. The pinnacle of barreled and spiced imperial stout. Awesome.

UPDATED: AUG 27, 2010 Thanks to Degarth and Solan for the growler. This beer is unholy. Satan blessed this with his dark hand. An unreal concentration of vanilla, coconut, bourbon and chili peppers that singe the nosehairs. Flavor packs an equally potent punch. Drink at room temperature for the full effect. The chili peppers come through in the finish. Flavors mimic the aromas to the tenth power. This is the greatest beer on earth. Regular Hunahpu’s is a 5.0. This is better.

UPDATED: DEC 11, 2009 Degarth, I love you. The aroma is redolent of coconut macaroons. Notes of vanilla, marzipan, allspice, the chilies, some coffee notes, touch of molasses. The appearance is a completely opaque back, deep mahogany head. Absolutely stunning. The flavor is as complex and rich as I could hope for. The vanilla leads the charge, with oak, chocolate, cinnamon, bruleed sugar, some sweet pie spices. Nice warming finish. Truly a world class beer, and quite possibly the finest beer I have had to date.

solan you’re the man for sharing this one! And I think a shout our goes to degarth! Big vanilla nose with bitter chocolate and peppery spice, it smells amazing! Pours completely black with a thin tan head. Wow I didn’t think Hunahpu’s could get any better! All the rich chocolatey goodness of the regular version with rich oaky vanilla with bourbon notes. Finishes with the perfect amount of chili peppers. Man this is really an awesome beer!