Marshal Zhukov's Victory Parade
Cigar City Brewing

 

 

Got this one from Claaark. Cheers man!

From a 750 into a snifter
Bourbon barrel aged Stout with Marionberries, Figs and Cacao Nibs

APPEARANCE: Pours out pitch black and yields a 2+ finger, medium looking, crackly, fizzy, dark tan head with decent retention. Head crackles away to a faint wisp and ring. Jet black body and no carbonation evident. Thing ring remains leaving no real lacing on the glass as it empties.

SMELL: Big nose with lots of bourbon, dark chocolate, molasses, roasted espresso aromas, light berry aromas, and some lovely bourbon soaked brownies on the nose. Plenty of oak and barrel character, with a bold and roasted base beer.

TASTE: Plenty of booze and bourbon up front, with notes of cacao nibs, dark chocolate, some sweet molasses, vanilla cream and light berry flavors into the swallow. Bold and boozy finish of bourbon, oak barrels, chocolate fudge brownies, roasted, bitter espresso and plenty of bourbon barrel linger on the palate. Bold flavorful, plenty roasted and bitter-sweet imperial stout.

PALATE: Medium-thinner body and medium levels of carbonation. The barrel treatment has thinned out the base beer on this one. Not creamy enough for the style, a little prickly going down and finishes with a solid burn. Some good heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is MZ plus a lovely barrel treatment for sure. The adjunct additions do make their mark, but the bourbon barrel is the overwhelming winner on the night. The look is great, the nose and flavor work wonders, though the feel is not quite the creamy treat that the base beer is. Seems as though the booze from the barrel treatment has thinned it out a touch. No matter. This is a real treat, as virtually all CCB imperial stouts are. Glad to have gotten the chance to try this one, and am again reminded that my life could have turned out very differently if I’d been more in FL. Cheers!

 

Poured a black body with khaki head. Chocolate covered cherries and blackberries are all I get in the aroma with exception of some woody booziness that is mild. Boozy, thick, yet somehow velvet smooth, has a creamy chocolate-covered cherry taste along with something like blackberries/currants and hint of fig, along with a finish more chocolate than booze but still boozy so this is a really slow sipper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a 750ml bottle dated 6/24/19 into a Cigar City Spiegelau Barrel Aged Beer glass. Beer is inky black with a minimal mocha head that slowly disappears and leaves no lacing. The beer clings to the glass and leaves slow receding alcohol legs like a barrel aged beer of this magnitude should.

Aroma is Bourbon, vanilla, coconut, raisins, and a tart berry note. Very complex. Definitely better as it warms.

Taste is berry tartness and acidity up front, followed by vanilla and coconut. Bourbon and barrel finish on the back of the tongue. Chocolate covered berries and dark fruit linger a bit. Again, very complex.

Mouthfeel starts off a little stinging from the berry acids, but quickly transitions to a velvety smooth but slightly sticky sugary finish. Complex.

The marionberries are present, but not overpowering. There’s plenty of Bourbon barrel, and each sip finishes slightly different than the last. Again, this is a complex sipper worthy of a Catador Club beer.

 

Very small head with brief retention. Body is similar to the base brew: very dark and nutty.

Barrel notes waft over from a distance, carrying with them tones of brown sugar. Up close, the nose features an almost sharp and lightly sour mash, oak, berries, brown sugar, molasses, toast, light char, toffee, raisins, sweet red grapes, and espresso.

On the palate, this is a beer with a lot going on, primarily moving in thirds. Up front, it's rich and roasty, with the malt base carrying the load along with some of the barrel character. Around mid-palate, the figs suddenly cut through the mix, with a delightful blend of dark fruity tones that complement the base beer exceptionally well. The final third is where the cacao really shines, as it adds a creamy, almost chewy, rich, sweet, and smooth tone to the base beer. Like the figs, it barely stands out as an additive, instead reining in the bitter, roasty RIS base toward a creamier, smoother middle ground.

Berry notes are present throughout, particularly mid-sip, but to me they hardly stand out. Like the figs and cacao, they are mostly complementary with natural RIS flavors, amplifying it perhaps in some ways. Unlike other berry BBA stouts, this one does not scream, "Berries!" at me.

Thick, smooth, roasty, aggressive, and assertive; full bodied and chewy; neither attempting to hide the ABV nor hit you over the head with it.

Zhukov is one of my favorite imperial stouts, worthy of being considered up there with the likes of FIS and Ten-Fidy as a style benchmark. This treatment does not, IMO, surpass the original, nor my favorite alternative treatment, Penultimate Push. It is, however, a very, very good beer, and if it cannot quite live up to the OG Zhukov, it doesn't hurt its legacy in any way.

 

 

750ml bottle poured into an El Catador snifter. Bourbon barrels along with the dark fruit notes of figs and marionberries create a nice twist on the base Zhukov's. Taste is rich, thick, roasty, and finishes sweet with a lingering heat from the alcohol and barrels. Overall, Victory Parade is an interesting and tasty twist on an old class Marshal Zhukov's.

 

Did you realize “El Catador” means “Great Taste. More Filling.” In ancient Aztec? Now you do. 750ML bottle split with my wife.

Le pour, it is black, & why would I care? The smell, it is redolent of blackberry parades in August. Not much Zhukov or barrel.

Marshal Zhuvkov’s Victory Parade should be classified as a fruit beer. Blackberries (or marionberries) burst out of the glass like the seventh Wang Chung album. Tart, crisp blackberries are dominant, with a background of cheesy keyboards, light bourbon barrel, mild chocolate, roast. Moderate. Times I wondered if I could get through half the bomber.

Zhukov deserves better. Too much fruit, too little barrel & stout, & the rare disappointment in El Cat & the Zhukov panethon. Pretty good.