Cigar City Humidor Series Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout

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

750mL bottle. Poured inky black with about the deepest brown head you could imagine. The aroma picked up molasses, dark chocolate, and espresso accented by vanilla, toasted cedar, and piney hoppage.. orange-covered dark chocolates on the very back.. the cedar was subtle. The flavor found espresso, dark chocolate, and molasses at the core.. charred tar, vanilla, and bitter coffee extended outward.. subtle cedar gave a spicy ancho and black peppery impression on the finish.. tasty. Heavy-bodied and syrupy on the palate.. too little cedar, but a fine impression from what was there.

Roasty, fairly dry. The cedar works nicely in this beer, although I could see it working even better for IPAs.

Thanks Jason. 2009 vintage. Pours to a pitch black body with a really deep brown head and heavy lacing. The aroma is deep sweet milk chocolate chips, chocolate ganache, liquid chocolate syrup. The flavor is heavy bittersweet chocolate, cream, hops in the middle of the flavor get covered up by more chocolate on the finish. Subtle cedar. Palate is creamy and rich. Full bodied.

Bottle courtesy of Santa! Thanks Santa!! Pours pitch black with dark tan almost chocolate looking head. Aroma is dark roast, coffee, hops, bittersweet chocolate, and I keep smelling trying to detect cedar or wood. And I don’t get it. Maybe its the twinge. I thought maybe that was from the yeast. I’m not entirely sure. Oily thick mouthfeel. Not as thick as the original. But still amazingly thick on its own right. What I do know is I really like how this tastes. Flavors follow the nose to a T and finishes with a long coffee bittersweet chocolate note that leaves me wanting more. Its so damn good. I noticed the picture on the bottle has a cigar on it. And since it was named the Humidor series beer it seemed only fitting to enjoy with a cigar. After drinking half the glass I lit up. Wow. The way the flavor of the cigar played off the roastiness in the beer. Just wow. They recommend enjoying this series with a cigar. I agree. It heightened my enjoyment and experience of this beer. Thanks again Santa! Merry Christmas!

Bottle thanks to ericandersnavy. The smell is heavy cedar right off the bat. Also cigars, malts, chocolate, and coffee. The look is black in color, beige colored nice head. The taste is dark fruits, wood, malts, coffee, roasty, and chocolate.

Bottle at Strong Ale, and a bottle at paytoplay’s tasting. This cedar aging really does not do it for me at all. Maybe only slightly in the nose. The nose it works for me, on the taste it really bothers me.

750mL bottle, courtesy of wavers1. Thanks! Pours a dark, chocolate-brown color; thin yellowish-brown head with patchy lacing; again, looks just like the other Marshal Zhukovs we’ve seen tonight. Nicely hopped aroma, roasted malts, minerals and lime notes; clearer, more expressive than the regular Marshal Zhukov, solid roastiness and like toast. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: relaxed carbonation, nice oiliness, lots of roasted maltiness, dark chocolate; seemingly creamier, toastier, and more opened flavor profile than the regular version; nicely hopped, clear and solid expression. Tasty imperial stout. Lengthy finish: dark chocolate, mineral notes, lasting coffee and chocolate.

Jesus H. Christ on a Popsicle stick. This pours blackish brown witha not so much existing head. Nose is seriously straight up sensual cedar with blackish malts behind it...but the cedar is so vivid, so spicy, so nice that I wet my pants...and it wasnt pee. Flavors are normal, clean, dark imperial stout flavors with a sharp bitterness and the cedar character coming through strong and complimenting. The malts are chocolatey, the bitterness is aggressive and could be a tad less forward, but I’ve seen worse from cigar city. Overall, i really like the cedar influence in this one...the beer itself is just a bit above average, but the two together, apparently orgasmic...ask my pants.