Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout
Cigar City Brewing

2017 bomber, set me back $14.99
True ebony wood blackness; highlights remain black from.all angles
Scant tan head than quickly disperses to a partial ring and small islands, short curtain of lacing.
Intoxicating aromas with coffee, cocoa, prune, tobacco, booze, leather, cherry, ginger, yeast
Coffee and cocoa flavors up front, then stone fruit, gingerbread, molasses. Floral hops are subsumed in all the other prominent flavors, but must contribute to the beautiful integrated result.
Full sticky mouthfeel, noticeable alcohol, but no burn, carbonation disappears quickly. Flavor really blossoms across the tongue.
Great RIS, I’m restraining myself so as not to drink too fast and miss the nuances.

 

Very enticing pour into a belgian snifter style glass. Nice dark tan head that lingers for a decent while. Body is opaque black. The nose is not overly complex - mostly get dark fruits. Figs. Raisin. A hint of booze, that near 12%abv does make itself apparent. The taste is absolutely scrumptious. Dark chocolate. Molasses. Dark fruits like in the nose. Coffee on the back end. The mouthfeel is not oppressive despite all the darker flavors and higher ABV. I was very glad to come across this and give it a go. Definitely seek it out.

 

 

Black with medium sized, beige head. The aroma of roasted malt, dark chocolate, cocoa, and coffee. Rich, malty taste with coffee and chocolate flavor. Roasted bitterness at the end.

 

Bottled in 2016. Very dark head which recedes quickly. Tight carbonation when I rock the glass.

The aroma is nice. Complex, with big dark chocolate, molasses, coffee, tobacco, and leather.

Flavor is more sweet than bitter; but a nice blend. Tons of molasses, soy sauce, chocolate, coffee on the finish. Booze is very well blended in both the flavor and smell.

Medium bodied, and nicely carbonated.

Overall, very solid, and this aged well and tastes like everything came together like it should. A nice treat for the holiday season.

Tasted on tap at the Cigar City Spruce Street Taproom.

Beautiful, black beer with swirling, creamy tan head and lace. Nose of coffee and sharp alcohol. Chocolate brownies and light coffee flavors with sweet alcohol. Medium body and full carbonation; a bit of mouth-coating sweetness. Bracing bitterness and strong alcohol. A solid, enjoyable example of the style.

 

 

From a… I don’t know what size bottle this is - maybe a 22oz bomber? It’s been awhile. At any rate, the volume’s not shown on the label. Bottled 09/25/19. Discovered tucked away somewhere-or-the-other while cleaning out Brewtopia. Served in a preternaturally fragile Spiegelau BA tulip-sort-of-gobletty thing.

Pours molasses-black with burnt caramel highlights and a scant finger of fizzy, muddy-brown head. Head retention is on the order of maybe 10 seconds before imploding, leaving pretty much the narrowest collar possible and a thin, oily film in lieu of any actual lacing.

Nose is rich, sweet and majorly boozy. Aromas of brown sugar caramel, black licorice and molasses.

Taste is sort of roughly in line with the nose but less sweet than anticipated and more herbal and earthy. Tasting blackstrap molasses, leather and cedarwood. Soy sauce is notable but not unbearable. The long, slow, mellow finish is an unctuous melange of buttery toffee and aromatic woodiness.

Falls down a little on the mouthfeel. Slick, slippery and mouthcoating. A bit flabby feeling albeit with fine, prickly carbonation. An enormously belly-warming, boozy finish.

Just the ticket for a bitterly cold February night in New Hampshire when I’m not running the woodstove because I’m leaving the house for a few weeks to drive south for the rest of the winter… there, see now, when I type a run-on sentence like that, I know to check the bottle for the abv and, sure enough, there it is, it’s 11.2%. A little fore-taste of Tampa. In summation: doesn’t look like anything special which no surprise, smells fucking awesome, tastes pretty darn good barring a slightly tacky aftertaste not previously mentioned, and the mouthfeel leaves me feeling vaguely unsatisfied. So, a mixed bag.

 

 

 

 

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 started 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.