Cigar City Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

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Big thanks to Justin for this 750mL, poured into a tulip. Wow, is this one seriously good-looking beer. It pours pitch black out the bottle and seems to suck up all the light in the room underneath a thick mocha head that recedes very slowly and leaves sheets of lacing. The aroma is big, dark and roasty with tons of heavily roasted dark malts and plenty of espresso and dry cocoa powder. There is an underlying molasses sweetness that almost balances the roasted character. The taste is absolutely massive with all kinds of things going on. There is a heavily roastes dark malt backbone that underpins everything. On top is the very dry, almost chalky, bakers chocolate and cocoa character with some espresso. The sweetness of the molasses from the aroma is not nearly as evident, though I’m pretty sure it’s in there somewhere. Also, I get hints of tobacco in the taste as well, but maybe that’s just in my head...tough to tell with all the other things going on. The mouthfeel is full bodied and slick, almost oily, going down. It’s dessert-like and very thick on the palate with enough carbonation to keep it from becoming cloying. This is a huge beer all the way around - gorgeous looking and with a complex taste that I think will improve with time as the flavors start to meld together.

Bottle @ Copenhagen Beer Celebration, 2012. Black with medium dark brown head. Aroma is roasted malts, chocolate, coffee and a little liquorice. Flavour is roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, dark fruits, medium sweet, liquorice, thick and medium bitter.

Bottle sample @ CBC. Pours thick, deep black-brown with a tiny tight espresso head. The nose is smooth deep milk chocolate, lovely light espresso, sugary cuban coffee and tea cake. The taste is super thick light roasted coffee, some christmas cake spice. Cherry dipped in dark bitter chocolate. Roasty stinging malts on the long lightly hot finish. The body’s lovely and full. Very nice, thick and oily. Overall, an excellent imperial stout. One of the best beers of the festival.

CBC. Black with a very dark brown head. Aroma is sweet, roasted malt, coffee and chocolate. Flavor is very sweet and very bitter. Dry and very bitter finish. Very oily. 120512

Bottle @ CBC, 2012.
Pours pitch black with a medium creamy, dark brown head. Aroma has lots of sweetness, liqourice, fat dark chocolate, vinious, oaky, coffee, cocoa. Lovely. Low carbonation, fat and oily mouthfeel. Flavour is quite sweet, cocoa, mild smoke, sugary, liqourice, vinious. Like many other "big" Imperial Stouts, it is just too sweet. Nice, coffee bitter finish though.

Bottle, pours blackest ive seen in a beer with thick brown head. Looks great. Aroma is burnt coffee, dark chocolate, some raisin. Taste is full bodied with of dark chocolate, coffee, tar, some dried fruits. Really nice!

On tap @ Copenhagen Beer Celebration. Got in on the last bottle of this famous beer, thanks to ej for tipping me off. :-) Pours an oily black body with a medium dense beige head. Really like engine oil; when pouring it over in a more suitable tasting glass (the CBC glasses were cute, but lacked enough tulip shape to catch aroma properly) the beer slowly runs down along the sides, making me re-pour the remaining contents a few minutes later. Amazing. Anyway, looks aside the aroma is also breathtaking: velvety intense espresso tones, vanilla, cocoa, molasses, booze and hints of ashes and burnt bread crumbs. Taste is even better: dark chocolate and cacao up front, then sweet muscovado-like dark sugars blend in with espresso and tar-like smokiness. Lighter, milk chocolate-like tones follow, before everything ends in a burnt woody bitter long-lasting finish which balances out the immense sweetness in the onset of the palate. Rich, oily and dense; this must be the most intense and best imperial stout I’ve had in quite a while, well deserving it’s spot among the Beer Whales of the world and one of my best beer experiences at CBC. Two thumbs up for Cigar City! :-)

Bottle. Pours an insane pitch black color with a really dark tan head, the darkest beer I have ever seen. The aroma is super complex with lots of dark fruits like dark cherry, figs, dates and raisins, some dark chocolate and sweet chocolate, molasses and tobacco. Flavor is also nice and complex with a nice aroma of dark fruits again figs, dates, dark cherry and raisins, lots of molasses, dark chocolate, coffee, tobacco, molasses and some brown sugar notes. The body is full with a creamy mouth feel. Overall a great Imperial Stout, and probably the best non BA Imperial Stout I have had in a while!

From bottle at CBC. Pours pitch black, small beige head. Aroma is dark bitter chocolate, coffee, tar and creosot. Taste is moderate sweet malty, thick and oily mouthfeel, lingering malty sweetness, my gooodness what a beer!

Bottle at Copenhagen Beer Celebration. Dark very low carbonation. Rich aroma. Smooth, bittersweet, lots of sugar.

Pours very black, very viscous, with no head. Good legs, too. Really coats the glass. Lots of plum, soy and raisin in the nose, Lot of coffee and chocolate, too. Flavor is more of the same - coffee, chocolate, grape, coffee and chocolate. Slightly woody finish.