Cigar City Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout - Bourbon Barrel-aged

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

Serve in Snifter

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RNH promo event, and CCB hunahpu release party. Notes from both- combined. Pours a very deep dark black - oily- pitch black actually, nice big orange brown head lasting- with some lace. Aroma is bourbon upfront but doesn’t get harsh or hot, mixes nicely with the big roasty and coffee notes, good chocolate hints as well, earthy, toast, vanilla, and slight burnt and smokey notes. Flavor has some moderate to high sweetnes,s but not as sweet as the brandy version- some syrup, maple, some honey, roast, bourbon, vanilla, charred oak, and nice fresh american hoppiness still to kind of round out the finish. Pretty damn good.

On draft at R @ H. Pours a black color with a small brown head. Aroma of roasted malts, light bourbon and bitter chocolate. Taste of roasted malts, light bourbon, and bitter rich chocolate. Alcohol detected.

On tap at CCB at the mini grand opening. It pours inky void with forever mocha head. I mean I let this sit for over an hour before drinking and it still had plenty of foam left. The aroma has robust notes of bourbon, oak and a lighter amount of straight up bourbon booze. Well behind those barrel notes are dark roastiness and dark chocolate. The taste is rich and velvety and pervasively barrel forward for sure. There’s boozie bourbon, hints of vanilla and robust oak covering up mild background notes of dark velvety chocolate and dark roasted malts. It is hard to believe the barrel was able to overcome this much malt roastiness from this batch of Zhukov’s, but it did. Personally I’d prefer a bit less barrel time but this was a tasty experience.

hand bottle at home ... dark viscous black sweet rich roast chocolate malts ... light licorice ... light bourbon ... silky smooth body ... big soft chocolate ... light malt molasis roast ... light silky bourbon ... hint of vanilla ... woody ... tiny iodine hit in linger ... lovely and balanced with a light oliy body

Handbottle at Papsø’s - Thanks. Pitch balck - brown bubbles. Chocolate, fruity, berries, cocoa, bourbon, wooden, lakridskonfekt, whiskey, oiley, acid notes, high malty, high sweetness, dark chocolate. Lovely.

Handbottle @ UK-SCO Tasting in Ulfborg.

[ Courtesy of cgarvieuk ]. Clear dark black color with a small to average, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, beige to light brown head. Aroma is heavy malty, roasted, chocolate, light coffee, cedar - wood, alcohol - bourbon, licorice notes. Flavor is heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, chocolate, dark malt. Body is medium to full, texture is oily, carbonation is flat to soft. [20110409]

Cigar city four roses Zhukov. 32oz growler thanks to Adam for bringing these by again... Pours a deep oily black, somewhat viscous, impenetrable by light and crowned with a thin deep tan film topping things of... Aroma is smooth bourbon notes, a slight char, and bittersweet chocolate, almost fudgey while a sligt roast also presents itself... Flavors follow suit quite nicely with very smooth barrel notes, a mild char, deep bitter chocolate and some roasty bits meandering all along with it. Mouthfeel is thick, viscous, oily, and full. It completely coats the mouth as well as the glass in itself. Nice control of the brew without the barrel becoming burdensome. Really enjoyed the flavor profile and mouthfeel. 8/4/9/4/17

[Growler, thanks so much for the trade!] Pours black with a small, very dark brown head. Aroma is coconut, chocolate, vanilla, brown sugar, raisin, and prune. Really nice. The taste has raisin, lots of chocolate, deeply roasted malt, a peppery aspect, and some dark fruit notes in the background. A little too much deeply roasted malt, but otherwise reminds me of some of the really nice batches of BCS that I have had in the past. Thick mouthfeel, chewy, with a long finish. A little too ashy, but otherwise an outstanding example of how to barrel age an imperial stout. Thanks again!

32 oz growler from askofficerfriendly. Thanks, Greg! Pours an inky black opaque pour, thick and big with a small very dark brown head that dies to a loose bubbled head. Aromas are sweet toffee, roasted malts, an ok barrel presence, with some Bourbon spirit, vanilla and wet oak. Cocoa, dark with some coffee, big dark chocolate and roasty coffee. Initial is thick and full, with sweet toffee and chocolate, touches of roasty coffee. Sweet overall, with cocoa, toffee, some roasty coffee and thick sweet caramel, roast and toast, coffee and mocha, bakers chocolate with decent barrel presence, Bourbon kisses it with nice light spirit, some vanilla tannins. Full bodied with good with roast, toast, big sweet malts, cocoa. Really good, full and fudgy without an overdone barrel, but full of flavor, oak, kisses of Bourbon. Vanilla, fudgy cocoa, coffee, caramel. Lingering thicker finish leaves a sweeter take on the palate, but really left me wanting more. Great beer and Barrel Age example here. But I’m a huge sucker for Zhukov as it is.

Draft at RnH. Pours near black with a brown head. Roasty aroma with dark chocolates and a bourbony sweetness. The flavor is way roasty and almost smoky, with a solid bourbon sweetness and lighter espresso notes. Very good, my favorite of the night.