Capture of Azov
Cigar City Brewing

 

 

Pour is opaque black, almost no head or lacing. Aroma is huge tart apple, some base beer characters of roasted malt and semi sweet cocoa, a brandy like sweetness and subtle oaky vanilla. Taste is def less apple brandy flavored, mostly a pleasant roastiness and lots of vanilla. Barrel notes come out as it warms, almost some bourbony notes of charred oak. Mouthfeel and drinkability are good. Overall a tasty beer, very good but nothing crazy.

 

There's something about Porter as a barrel-aged beer that allows for all the barrel complexities, subtle fruitiness and nuanced aging components to come about more vividly, as opposed to roastier Stout. Cigar City uses this tactic to capture the attention of the tastebuds with surgical precision.

Dark enough brown to be mistaken for Stout, the Capture of Azov builds a foamy light tan cap before drawing in the senses with a robust malty-sweet, savory, chocolaty scent laced with coffee, dark fruit and an undeniable twinge of booze to spice up the nose. Leading into that first sip, its the savory sweetness that gains control of the middle palate with the richness of molasses, chocolate, brown sugar and sweet cream.

As the lavishly malty ale expands across the middle palate, the beer trends coffee-like with latte proportions before pulling in the fruits of plum, fig, date and raisin. A unique winey tone takes hold with the savory whimsy of sherry and brandy along with a trailing spice of vinous booze, peppercorn and aged oak.

Full bodied, sweet and moderately roasty, the Imperial Porter finishes malty-sweet but with a spicy balance that carries a slight woodsy hop bite. with a long aftertaste of piquant barrel complexities, the apple brandy influence adds a plethora of uniqueness that doesn't scream "apple brandy"

 

 

750ml bottle poured into a snifter. Bottling date of 04/26/19 etched on the neck of the bottle. The apple brandy notes on the nose are heavenly. Sweet, chocolatey, boozy, full bodied. Capture of Azov is a really fantastic brew.

 

 

Very good head production, and good retention for the style. Dark brown head and nearly ebony body are reminiscent of Marshal Zhukov.

Huge notes of apple brandy on the nose, with a slight, oaky mustiness. A creamy, roasty stout body lies beneath, but the brandy is front and center.

On the palate, the brandy is still quite strong, but definitely becomes slightly more complementary, as wonderfully roasty tones of chocolate, espresso, brown sugar, and molasses come roaring through the mix. Remarkably smooth and rich malt base. Toast, caramel, toffee, raisin, date, and vanilla are secondary tones. Brandy influence lasts throughout the entire sip.

Plenty of heat, but very drinkable. Thick and chewy. Plenty of liveliness as well.

 

 

More El Cat! Given my feeling that CC is one of the top five breweries in the world, I’m always delighted to get into these, whatever they might be. 750ML Molotov cocktail split with my wife.

Dark. The nose brings 94% apple brandy & 6% raisins.

Capture of Azov reminds me of a campaign I ran in 1994 with five buddies trying to defend a town by drafting the villagers and…well, it’s a good story. If you weren’t Gyff the Flying General. As up the nose, the apple brandy is dominant, but there’s a healthy cut of Belgian chocolate & booziness. Oak, molasses, vanilla leaf, & a touch of fig play peek-a-boo around the brandy. Moderately thick for a big beer; the porter seems to get lost among the barrels. Eminently drinkable.

I wonder what this would be like with a good stout base, but as is, it still creeps into the excellent category. The barrels make this beer what it is.