Da Un Beso A La Botella
Cigar City Brewing

4.65/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured very dark with no light passing through. Had a tan head that went away fast. Could smell dark fruit and something sweet. Tastes like how it smells, no sign of a barrel.

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4.77/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

I've had the pleasure of enjoying this one a few times now, and it's amazing. I'm finding that I like rum BA stouts almost as much as bourbon ones. And this is up there as one of the best.

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4.51/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Thank you to Daniel for sharing.

Dark brown viscous body with a thin beige head. Lovely aroma. Rum character cuts through in both the nose and flavor. Graceful, elegant, drinkable. I have to go home now.

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4.08/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Reviewed from notes. Poured from a 750 mL bottle into a 7venth Sun goblet.

A: Very dark brown and opaque, with low visible carbonation and minimal head formation.

S: Rum and accompanying spices, vanilla, chocolate and roasted malts. Leathery and tannic, but sweet maltiness comes to the fore.

T: Rum and chocolate up front. Sweet sticky malts with a noticeable roast character. Vanilla. Some oak tannins dry this out some, but the sweet flavors from rum and malts dominate. There's a touch of moist tobacco near the end, and then more rum burn.

M: A thick sticky mouthfeel, especially for a beer described as an Export Stout. The alcohol burn seems restrained for a barrel-aged beer. Low carbonation sensation.

O: A good beer, but rum on top of a sweet stout just wast my favorite. I though it comes across as lacking something - a balancing bitter flavor, or a fruit presence, or something. But I feel like it was as good as it could have been within the concept of the beer and the flavors present.

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4.25/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A good stout all around with an obvious wood and barrel presence, fruit and sugar on the front of the palate, then chocolate and roast on the end, finishing with a boozy rum tail.

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4.39/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Another great beer from Cigar City. This one has an extremely strong nose with lots of barrel and complex flavors throughout. This is a really interesting foreign stout, but was done very well. It is very palatable despite all of the alcohol on the nose.

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4.08/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Large shared bottle.
Very rich and complex with moderate impact of the rum barrel. Chocolate, coffee, oak, dates, raisins and alcohol esters. Thick,syrupy body.

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4.21/5  rDev -3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4

Have no idea what the description/style of this beer is "tropical foreign export stout..?" but regardless it's another delicious black sludge of a stout from CCB. Not much depth or complexity, but very tasty and overly sweet. Rich chocolate light and dark, sweet smooth rum, various lighter fruits in the back ground.

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4.25/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Very good.
Smells of rum, coffee and brown sugar.
Nice rum barrel flavor, sweet but not too much, balanced with a good roasted malt stout flavor.
Medium carbonation and thick palate.
A very good CCB stout

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4.28/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

My Catador bottle finally opened yesterday. Full review during consumption.

A- The classic CCB supremely black and oily brew with a frothy dark mocha head. One finger cap to a wide belt and lace is spotty but plentiful.

S- Fudgey cocoa bomb with plenty of aromatic roasty tones and dark fruits; like cherry truffles. Some brown sugar rum feel but mostly the stout base.

T- Sweet and thick massive stout in classic CCB fashion. Cherry semi tart dark fruits combine with extra strong cocoa powder and bitter chocolate lending to the fudge truffle aspect I noticed in the aroma. Rum barrel is not obvious but grows and gives deep brown sugar, oak wood and banana ester. Roasty char gains strength in the aftertaste.

MF- Super thick and oily body that defines massive on the palate. Smooth medium level of bubbles and a soothing creaminess.

Deep chocolate and cherry like dark fruits throughout with a subtle barrel that smooths it all out with wood and caramelized burnt sugars. Massive thick CCB beast stout streak continues.

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4.41/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

750ml bottle acquired through the El Catador Club. Bottled 9/4/14. Served in a Cigar City teku.

Pours oil black with two and a half fingers of deep tan head. A thick ring remains around the edge, leaving small patches of lace. This serves as further confirmation that Cigar City makes some of the most gorgeous stouts.

Lots of rum in the aroma with a good chocolate fudge, roasted grains and brown sugar. Delightful.

Despite that rum-heavy nose it's heavily roasted malts that are the predominant flavor initially. That pleasant roastiness is backed by coffee, dark chocolate, rum, fudge, sugar cane, mild oaken char and a nip of booze. Roast and rum are the clear stars here. The alcohol is noticeable but far less so than expected for a barrel aged stout with double digit abv. Exceptional.

Creamy, medium full body with subtle carbonation. Finishes with more of that delicious one-two punch of roast and rum.

Da un Beso ala Botella is another fantastic stout from Cigar City. I would have appreciated a little more body but this is still far and away the best export stout that I've ever had the pleasure of consuming.

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4.02/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

EBF sample. Pours black or something close. Thick and viscous. Aroma is rich and very sweet. I detected barrel aromatics and was impressed to find that this was in a rum barrel. Rum barrels are bei used more and more and they definitely give off some pretty interesting and less coercive flavors and aromas than bourbon barrels in my opinion. It's not necessarily better but it's different. The nose is sweet chocolate, fudge, spicy wood and dark fruits. The flavor is quick sweet and decadent. Sweet chocolate syrup, rum and wood. Flat cola and some dark fruit. Finishes with spicy rum flavor. Full, slick texture. Quite good; would have liked more of this to better diagnose all the flavors.

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4.21/5  rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Bottle from MeadMe, thanks for the opportunity!
Big molasses and woody rum notes on the nose. Hints of treacle and cacao as well as bits of ethanol and dark fruit. Chocolate caramel and molasses with a hint of burnt sugar bitterness. Light oak with a sweet sugary rum note and a touch of ethanol. Creamy oily sticky mouthfeel, thick body with a light level of carbonation. Big sweet and a hint boozy, but makes a really nice sipper on this frigid night.

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3.6/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

750 mL bottle poured into a snifter.

Appearance - Viscous looking black body. Nice deep mocha head. Thick collar.

Smell - Lots of rum. Smells very sweet. Chocolate. Oak.

Taste - Rum is really strong up front. Woody. Gets fudgy and chocolatey in the middle, which is the best part of the drink. The rum comes back fiercely in the back end with some wood. Sweet and boozy finish. Astringent.

Mouthfeel - Heavy. Rich and boozy. Medium carbonation.

Overall - I don't dig the rum. The middle retains some very nice stout flavors, but the rum really doesn't contribute well.

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3.91/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to moose3285 for arranging to get me these beautifulllll bottles from the El Cat club; I was drooling a bit all the way home from Florida. Though that might have just been side effects. 750ML bottle split with my wife.

The pour is black because it’s a stout & they all are (unless Stone makes it, of course). Gently carbonated. The nose is wickedly weak: distant chocolate and barrel, not the usual tornadic nasal experience offered up by my friends at CC.

Da Un Beso A La Bottela is a beer name George W. Bush would have despised when the pan-French terrorists invaded Corsica. Enough rum to masquerade as one of the rum-and-cokes I had aboard the big ship; how is that smell not suffusing my entire head cavity? Secondary bliss includes a straight shot of moonshine, bitter chocolate, lickspittle dry woodiness, finishing with slight vanilla & a more rum. Then some more rum. Mouthiness is dry, crisp, but simultaneously smooth, which is a nice sleight of hand. I could drink a lot of this.

You better like rum if you’re going to put this near your mouth, because the beer is leading with its sugarcane shoulder pads. I like rum. If you like rum, drink this beer, because your palate will thank you. Excellent brew.

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4.4/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Got this one from 7clutch a while back. Thanks heaps man!

From a 750 into a snifter
Tropical style imperial export stout in rum barrels
Wicked Dolphin barrels

APPEARANCE: A thick, syrupy, transparent black pour yields a 2+ finger, medium looking, creamy, light mocha colored head with very good retention. Pitch black body with no carbonation evident. Head slowly fades to a nice full wisp cap and clings down the glass leaving lots of sticky lacing. A ring and faint wisp remain with some sticky lacing down the glass. Not quite Huna, but nasty for an export stout.

SMELL: Nose on this is great. Lots of oak, vanilla, rum and chocolate covered cherries. Pure chocolate, roasted grain, fudge with sweet cream as well. Bold and very desert-like.

TASTE: Rum, oak, vanilla and chocolate covered cherries up front. Very flavorful for sure. More barrel notes at the swallow with a bold and lingering finish of oak, vanilla, sweet cream, roasted malts, pure bitter chocolate, cherries and a bit of spicy rum and alcohol. Very flavorful.

PALATE: Medium body and medium levels of carbonation. Enough weight. Semi-creamy, a touch foamy perhaps, goes down fine and finishes sticky on the palate. A bit of a scratch at the swallow and some heat lingers.

OVERALL: Really good. Although this is described as an export stout, it’s actually a better Cigar City imperial stout than El Cid. The look is not quite as thick as The Marshal or Huna, but it’s blacker and nastier than the vast majority of the imperial stouts out there, while the aroma and flavor is certainly top notch. A slightly thicker feel would put this over the top. Really enjoyed this and would love to see it again. Cheers 7clutch!

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4.07/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Thinner than expected (given CCB's stouts are always super thick) but it's still a thick beer. Smell and taste are of sweet chocolate and rummy oak. Great dessert beer! Would enjoy to try one with a good amount of age.

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4.5/5  rDev +3.7%

Tropical notes were fantastic. The barrel note was decent and added to the experience, but I'm curious to see what it will be like in time. I'm curious to see if the rum will step back a small bit and if the tropical notes can hold on a take more of the leading role.

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4.37/5  rDev +0.7%

Bottle from my membership. Have no idea what to expect here. CCB seems big on the rum barrels for Catador. Poured to my El Catador Club Teku (naturally). Pitch black pour with an espresso brown head, looking creamy as can be and the retention is solid. Aroma of chocolate covered licorice, molasses, light booze, hint of vanilla. Not a lot of rum here on the nose but very nice. Very unique and super creamy smell here. The flavor is huge chocolate sauce, lots of anise, dark fruits, definite rum spice here but not a lot of booze, some vanilla notes, and a strong roasted malt presence that makes it seem like there is espresso in this thing. Rich silky mouthfeel, lowish carbonation, but not the intensely thick level that often comes from CCB. In this case that's probably a good thing, as this is so sweet and rich as it is. Easily the best rum infusion I've had in a stout. Really nice, but gonna be tough to get through this on my own due to the dessert in a glass qualities.

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