Capricho Oscuro - Batch 3
Cigar City Brewing

Capricho Oscuro - Batch 3Capricho Oscuro - Batch 3
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From:
Cigar City Brewing
 
Florida, United States
Style:
American Strong Ale
ABV:
9%
Score:
84
Avg:
3.71 | pDev: 14.02%
Reviews:
41
Ratings:
56
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Sep 02, 2015
Added:
Dec 04, 2009
Wants:
  13
Gots:
  3
A blend of Bolita Double Nut Brown Ale, Improv Oatmeal Rye India-style Brown Ale, and Big Sound Scotch Ale, aged in a Maker’s Mark bourbon barrel.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by maximum12:
Photo of maximum12
Reviewed by maximum12 from Minnesota

3.92/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Thanks to beerisheaven for this bottle, & one that has lingered in the back of the fridge for far too long. 12 oz. bottle popped with the #4 & split into a pair of small tasting glasses. Bottle 128/400, marked 2009.

Pours industrial plastic black, but really more brown with red highlights. Smell is more leather than I've ever felt coming off the dark surface of a brew. Vanilla & oak; this is a purebred bourbon-barrel reek.

Capricho Oscuro #3 is like a comfortable old baseball glove that's been worn in by plenty of hot-corner shots. Big notes of dusty leather dominate. Harsh notes of whiskey underneath feel a bit dated, faded. Sweet malts are subservient. Root & branch of the oak, probably cut from an Ent. Dry, a touch thin, the wood really sticks around on the palate. Six ounces doesn't seem enough to judge this one: good sign.

Middle-ground. Not as good as batch #2 but better than batch #4. Still a very good beer & a lesson in flashing leather.
Jan 28, 2012
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by iRun2Beer from Minnesota

Sep 02, 2015
 
Rated: 3.28 by Kelp from New Hampshire

Jan 16, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by slynke from Florida

Aug 16, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by DaTimBennett from Florida

Jul 26, 2013
Photo of DoubleJ
Reviewed by DoubleJ from Wisconsin

2.5/5  rDev -32.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 1.5
Another one leaves the cellar. The latest bottle, being Capricho Oscuro (Batch 3), spent nearly three years in my hand via fellow BA user kbm (Kevin). Thanks a lot! Being bottle # 311/480, you know I'm going to relish the moment. On to the beer:

Gusher! Bah, my carpet is ruined. Anyway, this beer forms a thick foamy head at first, and in a few minutes things start to calm down. A soft (and smaller) head sits on top a chestnut brown liquid. Swirling the beer around yields "foam legs" that briefly cling before sliding down the glass. The nose is sour, be scared. Oh, tell us about its other aromas. Well, there actually is a good dose of whiskey soaked oak, sweet and mellow at that. There is still quite an acidic edge to the nostrils, but it actually smells pretty good. Sweet and sour, a mistake that worked?

I'm no finding much of a malty base to this beer. It's a bland sourness with whiskey, and there's a big whiskey accent in this beer. Take out the sourness and I'd be drinking beer flavored whiskey. Bring the sour back into the equation and it's a whiskey beer with a distraction. Nothing complements. The alcohol is hidden well, and its medium (yet acidic) and well carbonated body are positives to pull from.

Not fun, and contrary to the introduction, not a moment I would like to relish. Terrible....
Nov 01, 2012
 
Rated: 4.5 by FreshmanPour77 from Minnesota

Sep 10, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by t0rin0 from California

Sep 10, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by brystmar from Texas

Aug 07, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by whartontallboy from New York

Aug 05, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by ygtbsm94 from Utah

Jan 31, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by acurtis from New Jersey

Jan 05, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by djrn2 from New Jersey

Jan 05, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by Exiled from Texas

Nov 25, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by jerz from California

Nov 18, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by Photekut from Tennessee

Nov 16, 2011
 
Rated: 2.75 by westcoastbeerlvr from California

Nov 14, 2011
Photo of drabmuh
Reviewed by drabmuh from Maryland

3.72/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Bottle shared by Thorpe, WARNING THIS BEER IS A GUSHER. This made us nervous that it was infected, I don't think so, just a big malty beer with way way too much carbonation.

Beer is brown and hazy with a big tan head of small bubbles, low retention, moderate carbonation. Looks good.

Aroma is sweet and strong, mostly malt.

Beer is medium in body and pretty sweet, a little prune, other stone fruits in there, not a very complicated beer but I enjoyed it. The finish was nice, I don't know if I would have it again but I don't regret having it.
Sep 23, 2011
Photo of Thorpe429
Reviewed by Thorpe429 from Illinois

3.46/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Bottle courtesy of pittsburghkid66 a ways back. Thanks. Served in a snifter.

This one starts out as a gusher, quite a bit so. Only lost a ounce or so, but still impressive. After that, pours black with a huge off-white fizzy head that lasted for a long time before falling and leaving some spotty lacing.

It went downhill from there, with the nose being full of heavy whiskey along with a bit of roast. Faint oak and light tannin. Nothing too complex. Bourbon and oak in the flavor with just a bit of roast. Medium body with a thin overall texture and light carbonation. Decent enough, but nowhere near as good as the other blends.
Sep 20, 2011
Photo of Genghis22
Reviewed by Genghis22 from California

3.77/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
2009 Batch #3, bottle # 162/480

A - Pours a rich dark brown. Not black, but not see through either. Foamy brown head.

S - Chocolate and cherries. Bourbon, oak, sweet tobacco and leather. Lots of interesting smells going on here. No real definitive hop or malt presence. First whiff is slightly tart. The cherry flavor becomes more pronounced with a chocolate backbone. The subsequent whiffs reveal more flavors.

T - Lots of stuff going on there. Wow. All the things I smelled before, and a couple of new ones. Boozy alcohol burn ignites the cherry twang before becoming a sweeping rush of oak. Vanilla and bourbon flavors wash over the tongue with a dry chocolate finish. The aftertaste is semi sweet with leather and tobacco as well as more chocolate and vanilla.

M - A little thin and over carbonated. The body is not bad, but just not thick enough for a beer with so much going on. I'd like to chew on this more if I could. The carbonation is very active, a little over done if you ask me.

O - A tasty beer. Lots of things going on, but not necessarily working together. The flavors are nice, but I wish they were more well meshed. The tart cherry notes also get in the way. The beer would be better without that. I'm glad I got to try this, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it again.
Apr 27, 2011
Capricho Oscuro - Batch 3 from Cigar City Brewing
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 56 ratings