Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout
Cigar City Brewing

 

 

Dug deep into the cellar for this one. There is no date on the bottle but my guess is that I have had this for about 10 years, maybe more. It’s the yellow label version.

Pours a motor oil thick black color. This thing is as dark as the night in Hades. No light penetrates this at all. It is topped with a one finger sized, lightly milked coffee color head and presents wonderful lacing down the side of the glass.

Aroma is still quite special. Dark fruit and figs, coffee, tobacco, and soy sauce.

Flavor profile is a slight let down. It is a little sweet. Flavors of astringent coffee, more tobacco, raisins. Even a little bit of smokiness to it, kind of like cigarette ash.

I have never had this fresh but the 10+ year old version held up remarkably well. Probably not the best beer to drink in a 90F afternoon but it was still enjoyable.

EDIT: The flavor of this beer fooled me into thinking it was bourbon barrel aged. It's not. Nevertheless, I thought it was when I reviewed it. Bear that in mind.

22oz bomber received courtesy of Roguer. Bottled on November 6, 2018(!) Georgi's smiling face is gazing out from the label.

Poured into a stemless wine glass, this was a deep, dark brown, to all intents and purposes black. Big, creamy,mocha colored head initially, but it dropped away fairly quickly. Spotty lace.

Nose is is of bourbon, fudge, vanilla (probably from the bourbon barrels), brown sugar, and a maduro cigar.

Boozy up front, with the flavor from the bourbon barrel aging most prominent. There's also flavors of fudge, coffee, molasses, vanilla (undoubtedly from the bourbon barrel aging), and even a bit of something that reminds me of marshmallows. Really well balanced. Big, but approachable.

A little thin in the body for the style, but not to a deal-breaking point. Creamy mouth feel.

I was initially thinking it might be interesting to lie this down for a couple years to mellow, but it appears that has already happened, and then some. Makes me think that when fresh, this had a hell of a big barrel blast to it. The booziness, while noticeable, is not over the top, so it's not something that I'm finding unpleasant. Apart from the body seeming a little thin the only criticism I can make is that I'd rather have this in a 12 oz or 16 oz format, then a full bomber. But, hey, beggars can't be choosers, and I'm thrilled to scratch this one off my wants list.

22oz bottle poured into a small snifter. No date on the bottle that I saw, but I've owned it for 3-4 years and had bought it on the fresh side.

A: Oily black in color. An aggressive pour manages to kick up an inch and a quarter of dark brown head. It settles out into a very thin cap after a few minutes. Very fine-bubbled and thin lacing.

S: Chocolate fudge sauce and brownie batter, dark chocolate, bit of espresso, lots of woody roast with some soot and char. A good dose of earthy hops. Dark fruit esters manifest in the form of black cherry skins and blackberry.

T: More or less follows the nose. There's a sweet brownie batter/fudge sauce impression up front, but that quickly gives way to roast. A lot of woody roast and espresso-type flavors take a firm hold. Great dark fruit flavors of black cherry skin, blackberry jam, and just a touch of black currant sauce. A very quick brush of stiff alcohol it nestled in amongst the dark fruit. Earthy and piney hops ride up on the back end and close out a drying finish alongside some trailing roast and smoke.

M: Thick and rich in body. Almost but not quite coating, though there's a definite viscosity to the feel. Chewy. Amply carbonated with a fine-bubbled lift. There's a definite sense of heft, but it's fermented well enough that there aren't enough residual sugars left to tip it into sludgy territory. It strikes a good balance in that way.

O: Cigar City has nailed the Russian Imperial Stout style. This has a brawny, yet very classic feel. Style purists that eschew the pastry stouts and want a more no-frills, perfectly executed RIS will want to find a bottle to appreciate. It really doesn't get much better than this.

Poured that lovely black into the snifter and provided a light brown head that took its time to dissipate.
Aroma was dark fruit, molasses, malts. No hint of bitterness.
The taste stared where the nose left off and went from there. The malted base is definitely in command but the dark fruits steeped in sweet molasses were layered in quite nicely. There was just a touch of bitterness that seemed to punctuate the flavors and keep it all from actual sweetness.
The feel was smooth and viscous, I've had thinner BA stouts. Nicely done.
Worth seeking out, or at least picking up a bottle if you can find one.

 

Appearance is pretty spot on for the style. The deepest of browns / bordering black, and fully opaque. A fairly aggressive pour produced roughly half an inch of deep khaki colored head that receded to a thin ring. Aroma is fairly rich, with molasses and faint toffee complementing some base roast notes. Taste and feel are where this beer really starts to shine. There's a nice complexity to this. Bitter roast leads the way, but is well balanced by some sweeter flavors that I can't call out individually but that definitely add to the experience. Almost a little bit of cinnamon spice on the finish. Full bodied and smooth. Very tasty.

 

Picked up a 22 oz bomber from The Fresh Market in Hendersonville 12-10-21 for $21.99. No bottling date; consumed 3-18-22. Guessing this is a 2020 or 2021 edition.

Beer poured black as night with a nice brown head.

Nose is lovely, full of roasted malts, dark fruits, and floral hops.

Taste is really well done. Malt base is huge with a nice medium to heavy roast that emits notes of espresso, cherry, and some licorice. Finishes very well balanced with no suggestion of sweetness and a nice warming with each sip on a cool rainy day.

Mouthfeel is awesome as i look for in this style. Full bodied and near perfection with the viscous and smooth mouthfeel.

Overall a world class imperial stout that is right up there with the best non BA versions i have had! Worth the splurge, will look for this in cans next go around.

On tap at the source - dark like used motor oil with quickly dissipating khaki head leaving a ring of tiny bubbles. Nose is bittersweet with chocolate ,coffee, roasty malt and molasses. Taste follows to a T. Slight alcohol creep lingers on the finish. Damn tasty!

 

Purchased at Berts Better Beers in 2019. It did have an opportunity to rest for 3 yrs. The head quickly dissipated after a few moments. A heavy bodied stout. Smell consisted of bittersweet chocolate, taste was of cinnamon, espresso, that lingered on the palette for over 2 minutes. A spectacular RIS.

 

 

22 oz bottle, probably a 2021 vintage but not sure, poured into a pint glass at 55 degrees F:
L - black as night, with a soft hazelnut head that quickly disappeared into the Russian night....
S - molasses, chocolate, coffee
T - the blackstrap molasses dominates, but also notes of chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt
F - very thick with almost no carbonation, just the way a big stout should feel
O - excellent beer, picked this up in a bottle shop in Largo, FL. Makes me really want to try the other Cigar City Stouts that are so hard to find in the midwest

 

 

 

Well this is pretty good! Bought the bomber at Thistle Draftshop near Houston about a month ago.

Pours very dark brown color with nice initial brown head and nice curtain lacing. Smell of dark chocolate and expresso. Follows to taste. Licorice and anise. Nice herbal, malty background definitely give the taste of this beer a new level. Very nice treat!