Capricho Oscuro - Batch 7
Cigar City Brewing

DLD - 5/18/2019

been years since ive had anything new on the fancier side from these guys, way too darn long, so i was positively pumped when my homie showed up the other day ready to pop this thing, a definite rarity, ive never even heard of this series. this is a big stout aged in a bunch of cool barrels, rum, sherry, and cognac, really neat blend, really massive base beer or beers, mature as can be, and really a fun one to sip on and contemplate. its oozy textured near black dark brown with all the viscosity in the world, long legs and an almost greasy look, good shine, close to still, intimidating visually for sure. the aroma is crazy, deeply roasty with dark chocolate character, light smoke, tons of wood, port wine fruitiness, raisin and prune, a curious salty element maybe from the sherry, but mostly cognac to me, behind some natural dark brown sugar sweetness and a vanilla note. the flavor follows the nose, cognac way out in front for me, and this is plenty alcohol but still smooth on my palate, sticky and big. strong essences of pool table felt, old mans hat, and unlit pipe tobacco, sweet and earthy, wooden and rich, and i am happy this is bitter enough from the roast to not be overly sweet on the palate, despite plenty of residual sugar. i get cognac in front of rum and sherry the whole time, but the combination is awesome and all three can be appreciated at different moments in this. remarkably complex. the texture is really dense and thick, syrupy and heavy, and without any real carbonation at all its a small doses sort of drink for me. a joy to drink with old friends and something i wont soon forget. hoping to one day be able to drink some of the others in this series!