Cigar City Warmer Winter Winter Warmer - Vanilla Aged

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Barley Wine
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in Snifter

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Pours a deep ruby with a tantilizing thick off white/tan head. Nose is spun burnt sugar, with hints of toasted bread and molasses. Rich caramel maltiness, with flecks of bittersweet chocolate, anise, vanilla and honey. Warm alcohol is present, but pleasant. Finish is dry with a slightly bitter linger that adds a nice balance. Enjoyed this with fresh homemade brownies... Damned good stuff.

dav with the hookup on 1/19/11 at dak’s. porter colored... dark brown with a couple bubbles on top. aromas of roast, a lot of spicy and earthy hops, vanilla and orange cream candies. the flavor is not so good... it is the sweetest damned thing i’ve ever consumed! how is that even possible? it is even topped off by a very strange bitterness which further confuses the palate. cloying, sticky, ouch.6/4/2/1/10-

Huge thanks to Dave for hookin this one up for us. Growler pours deep brown with a khaki head. Aroma shows notes of candied strawberry, molasses, brown sugar, and vanilla. Flavor shows the same with additional hint of orange peel. Overall body is full and extremely sweet.

(growler, courtesy of al_b!!!). Man, I owe Al big time. Thanks for sending this. Pours hazy mahogany with 1 finger tan head. Aroma of hard candy, vanilla, caramel, root beer and brown sugar. Very sweet, as I was expecting, with some hop notes on the end. Full bodied with sticky texture. The bitterness becomes more pronounced, but is in no way over powering. This was a real treat and it was all that I hoped it would be. Thanks Al!!

Dark cloudy brown color. Aroma has faint spice, lots of vanilla, some wood and whiskey with a bit of sugary sweetness. Flavor is sweet, vanilla, spice and a touch of alcohol warming. Very mellow and smooth overall. Nice.

Copper pour with tan head and lace. Light vanilla and caramel malt aroma. Very nice vanilla cream, sweet malt, with a light bitter. Medium/full bodied very nice.

RBWG. Pours a mahogany body with an off white head. Sweet vanilla notes, light malty woody whiskey tones. A mild coffee and licorice notes with a a delicious vanilla and birch warming. Very nice.

Name: Warmer Winter, Vanilla
Date: March 13, 2010
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, RBWG 2010
Appearance: clear brown, scant head
Aroma: sweet caramel and vanilla aroma
Flavor: rich caramel and vanilla flavor, touch of alcohol, light earthyness
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *** /4

Handbottle shared by illidurit. Hazy brown with a small head. Sweet vanilla, raisin, and cinnamon aroma. The flavor is sweet and spicy with some vanilla and a light alcohol presence. Full bodied with lower carbonation. Pretty cool for a spicy vanilla dessert drink, but a little too sweet for me to imagine consuming a larger quantity.

Hand bottle shared by illidurit at a tasting - thanks, David! Pours a clear medium brown color with minimal head and lacing. This could definitely be the result of the fact that it came from a hand bottle. Aroma is lots of spices and vanilla, with cinnamon standing out and some sarsaparilla notes. Flavor is caramel, toffee, and lots of great vanilla flavor, as well as candy apple, cinnamon, and a touch of alcohol. Smooth on the palate with low carbonation (again possibly due to the packaging). 10% ABV is extremely well-hidden, and I would have guessed this one was more around 7%.

Handbottle from a growler courtesy gunhaver. Pours amber brown with no head. Aroma is muted, with some vague fruits and not much vanilla. Notes of toffee and alcohol. Vanilla comes out in the flavor, melding with a light roasty toasty note and some dark fruits. Sweet and syrupy, not bad in sample size but I imagine it’s not so easy to drink a whole glass.