Sacred Ceremonies
Cigar City Brewing
- From:
- Cigar City Brewing
- Florida, United States
- Style:
- American Barleywine
- ABV:
- 14.5%
- Score:
- 93
- Avg:
- 4.45 | pDev: 6.74%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 3
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Oct 06, 2022
- Added:
- Oct 26, 2020
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 1
SCORE
93
Outstanding
93
Outstanding
Designed for ceremonies both sacred and blasphemous, this Barleywine-style Ale has been aged in French oak vessels previously used to age cognac. Serve with reverent hands and a penitent heart.
Aromas of tobacco, toffee and semi-sweet chocolate mingle with baking spice and vanilla on the nose. Each sip reveals a varying combination of oak, cacao nibs, black licorice, plums and molasses but consistently finishes with alcohol spice, Cognac sweetness and a balancing wood tannin quality.
El Catador Club 12th Edition, bottle #3, limited to 2,000 bottles
Aromas of tobacco, toffee and semi-sweet chocolate mingle with baking spice and vanilla on the nose. Each sip reveals a varying combination of oak, cacao nibs, black licorice, plums and molasses but consistently finishes with alcohol spice, Cognac sweetness and a balancing wood tannin quality.
El Catador Club 12th Edition, bottle #3, limited to 2,000 bottles
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Reviewed by Roy_Hobbs from Connecticut
4.7/5 rDev +5.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
4.7/5 rDev +5.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Nice, dark brown with a faint reddish tinge on the pour. Not much head, but overall, still a nice looking beer. Aroma is amazing. Molasses, oak, faint chocolate, and very rich. It smells absolutely amazing, and I only wish I could better describe it. Taste is equally fantastic. The booze is there, as is the cognac, but intertwined with caramel, toffee, chocolate, and while I don't think it's used in the brewing of this beer, vanilla. It's sweet without being cloyingly sweet. Beautifully long finish. Full bodied, smooth and oh so drinkable. This is one of the best beers I've had in quite some time.
Apr 11, 2021
Reviewed by maximum12 from Minnesota
4.82/5 rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
4.82/5 rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Oh my sweet CC! Pretty bottle with a classy yellow label & golden wax. Bottle #685/2000 split with my wife (she may never know about the second bottle).
The pour is dark brown with a Secchi Disc rating of about 1.5 mm. Nose. Cognac, musty leather. Secondary of toffee, oak, booze. Nice.
Sacred Ceremonies is delicious. Booming rollers of cognac & booze roll like a beautiful bulldozer over the palate. Underneath the overhang is sharp oak, fresh leather (not like the nose), more booze, toffee & a gentle echo of sweetness in the finish. Thick for a barleywine this 500ML bottle should be considered a single serving.
My sad, pathetic description of the tastes do not do justice to the magnificence of how these tastes gel into a cohesive whole. This is top shelf hooch.
Apr 04, 2021The pour is dark brown with a Secchi Disc rating of about 1.5 mm. Nose. Cognac, musty leather. Secondary of toffee, oak, booze. Nice.
Sacred Ceremonies is delicious. Booming rollers of cognac & booze roll like a beautiful bulldozer over the palate. Underneath the overhang is sharp oak, fresh leather (not like the nose), more booze, toffee & a gentle echo of sweetness in the finish. Thick for a barleywine this 500ML bottle should be considered a single serving.
My sad, pathetic description of the tastes do not do justice to the magnificence of how these tastes gel into a cohesive whole. This is top shelf hooch.
Rated by KensWorld from Florida
4.88/5 rDev +9.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
4.88/5 rDev +9.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
bottle 635/2000
Nov 15, 2020
Reviewed by Roguer from Connecticut
4.57/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
4.57/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Good head production, but it's short-lived, quickly fading to nothingness, without any indication it was ever there. Body is dark and reveals little, equally appropriate for a stout.
Very strong aroma, in particular the boozy influence of the Cognac barrels. A massive amount of caramel greets the nose from the huge malt base, along with leather and bark from the hops. A touch of chocolate and molasses; plenty of oak. It smells sweet, potent, boozy, rich, and inviting.
Equally potent on the palate - as in, really big, really boozy, and really potent. Waves and waves of brown sugar and caramel, along with red grapes, liqueur, chocolate, oak, molasses, tobacco, and prunes. Finishes with notes of raisin and chocolate; lasting aftertaste of oak, powdery chocolate, tannins, and more raisin.
Thick and full bodied; sticky. Obviously high ABV, but very drinkable - although it's very much a sipper.
An absolutely stunning and delectable beer, that will likely even out and improve with age.
Nov 01, 2020Very strong aroma, in particular the boozy influence of the Cognac barrels. A massive amount of caramel greets the nose from the huge malt base, along with leather and bark from the hops. A touch of chocolate and molasses; plenty of oak. It smells sweet, potent, boozy, rich, and inviting.
Equally potent on the palate - as in, really big, really boozy, and really potent. Waves and waves of brown sugar and caramel, along with red grapes, liqueur, chocolate, oak, molasses, tobacco, and prunes. Finishes with notes of raisin and chocolate; lasting aftertaste of oak, powdery chocolate, tannins, and more raisin.
Thick and full bodied; sticky. Obviously high ABV, but very drinkable - although it's very much a sipper.
An absolutely stunning and delectable beer, that will likely even out and improve with age.
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