Cigar City Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout

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

Big thanks to Will for this! Aroma is intensely chocolate. Vanilla and alcohol also make their presence known, leading to an extract essence. Taste has a ton of ancho making it very astringent- distractingly so. Cocoa, bitter roasted malt, and hoppy pine round out the flavors. Finish is bitter cocoa, ancho chalkiness, and slightly cloying. Good, and different, but not a huge success for me.

Rating #1300!!! Bottle, thanks to JW77 and Daknole. Pours black, with a brown head. Aroma is coffee, chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, vanilla, and chili’s. Flavor is chocolate, coffee, chili peppers, caramel, cinnamon, and licorice. Heavy body. The heat (a nice amount, not overpowering), hits after swallowing at the back of the tongue and in the throat. Amazing flavors going on here. The only thing I can think of to improve it would be to make it a little sweeter.

Huge thanks to tpd975 for sharing this during his recent trip to Philly. I’ve wanted to try this one for a while and I’m very thankful for the chance. Pours pitch black and completely opaque with a frothy dark mocha/ chocolate brown head with good retention that slowly settles into a lasting ring which leaves sporadic spots of lacing behind. Bitter sweet dark chocolate aroma with some slight earthiness, caramel and chocolate malt, licorice, subtle dark fruit, vanilla and a strong chili pepper presence. This adds a bit of spicy cinnamon/peppery character to the nose. Chewy viscous medium body with lots of silky chocolate malt, toffee, coffee, vanilla, and slight hazelnut notes. There is an amazing spicy peppery chili presence in the finish which adds extra complexity to this unique beer. The chilies add a nice bit of heat but it is pleasant and not gimmicky at all like that Cave Creek beer or that peppercorn beer from Dieu du Ciel. It’s more like an artisan chocolate bar in beer form. The chili heat flavor could have easily ruined the beer but it provides an excellent balance to the sweetness and roasted malt notes and lingers long after the finish making me crave another sip. The high ABV is excellently masked and the only heat is from the peppers making it pretty drinkable considering it’s strength. Highly recommended.

Multiple drafts at EDAs post Thanksgiving bash. Pours a super slick oily pitch black body with a small mocha brown head, a little more head and this one is a 5 on appearance. The aroma is very sweet overall for an impy thanks to the vanilla, cinnamon and cocoa nibs. The dark roasted malts combine with the other ingredients to form an anise aroma. Also detected was cocoa, espresso, vanilla, chocolate and pepper. The flavor is great with lots of pepper coming in on the aftertaste and sweetness in the begining with some espresso and roastiness in the middle. Full bodied with soft carbonation and an oily slick feel overall. Very nice overall and I love the addition of the peppers to add that heat that really sets this one apart from the others.

22oz counterpressure-filled bottle, courtesy of spacecoyote. Thanks, Carl! This beer... man. Pitch-black core; slight oiliness and viscosity; dark, dark cocoa head with excellent retention and persistent fine-bubbled lacing; this is not a light beer; as dark as I remember Expedition being, maybe darker; a perfect pour. Gorgeous, beautifully presented aroma: plenty of cocoa, leather, and cinnamon; minimal hop presence, but this is anything but overtly sweet: hints of tootsie roll?; dense, perfectly balanced chocolate and cocoa presence mixed with a cinnamon character that is just lovely here; touch of vanilla; touch of peppery heat, sure, but not as much as the mouth; whereas some imperial stouts seem cluttered, this is clear in the notes it strikes: cinnamon, cocoa, light roast and char; just a gorgeous presentation; so close to perfect. Full mouthfeel: oily, creamy, viscous presence on the palate without coming off as heavy; it’s hard for me to put something above Expedition, but this is wonderful: oily, good amounts of nuttiness and chocolate and charred notes, and the peppery notes and cinnamon mix in beautifully; dense and layered flavor without coming off as heavy; intensely drinkable; everything melded so well by the perimeter of heat, the suggestion of a cinnamon latte; I’m getting hints of eggnog, cocoa, peppers without any vegetal character; wow. Just, wow. After the few other Cigar City offerings I’ve tried, I was expecting to be, maybe?, underwhelmed... Layers upon layers of perfectly presented spice, cocoa, chocolate, cinnamon, and creaminess. Lasting finish: here, the cocoa notes really shine, along with an oily peanut character, light roast, and lasting chocolate. This is the most beautiful beer I have ever tasted. Even Ryan, dear god, would like this beer.

Handbottled.
Clear dark black color with a large, creamy to frothy, good , fully lasting, copper to light brown head. Aroma is ligt heavy malty, roasted, caramel, soap, sweet vanilla, sweet cinnamon, vegetable. Flavor is heavy sweet and bitter with a long long duration, chilli - peppery - cinnamon spice burn finish. Body is medium to full, texture is creamy, carbonation is soft to flat. [20091114]

Hand bottle via trade, big thanks to Gillard for this rarity. Shared it at a tasting. Pours pitch black and pretty viscous with a creamy tan head that has some large bubbles. Amazing aroma - chocolate, spices, roast, smoke, and mild chili peppers. Flavor is incredible and moves through several phases. Starts with semi-sweet chocolate then roast and coffee, followed by some smoke, vanilla, then chili peppers, cinnamon, wood and bitter cocoa and hops on the finish. The complexity is pretty crazy. Medium full on the palate with a bitter cocoa chalkiness. Bitterness really sticks with you, and I feel like it’s more from the cocoa than the hops. Drinkability is not great, but I think this works very well as a sipper. This is pretty much the best cigar beer ever.

Bottled. Beautiful pour. As this warms and breathes the aroma really opens up, with nice, smooth spicy complexity but not much in the way of the actual beer. A lot of cinnamon all around, some definite spice from the chili peppers but in a very balanced way. Pretty much all the roast is covered by vanilla and cocoa. Full bodied with minor pepper throughout, more cinnamon and cocoa, perhaps some tomatillo. A delicious beer, but sadly one that is completely defined by its spice treatment and little else. Fails to wow.