Journeywork of the Stars
Cigar City Brewing

Pours dark brown, no head or lacing to speak of. Thin appearance
Aroma of licorice, cherry wine and alcohol
Taste is a bit boozy, brandy wine ish, oak and kind of a roasted malt note
Mouthfeel is relatively thin low carbonation slight alcohol burn and some stickiness
Overall this bottle had some age on it, I found it to be almost like a barrel aged porter there were layers of flavor and the aroma was intense. I did not taste any cacao nibs. I still enjoyed it.

Pours a deep mahogany brown. Minimal head that dissipates to nothing rather quickly.

Huge aroma. Red licorice, stewed fruit, boozy wood. This beer shouts out barrel aged Barleywine. Very appealing.

The taste follows. Cherry, wine grape, stewed fruits, dry oak. Boozy. Drinks like a fine Barleywine. Flavours become more intense as it warms. Very good.

Full body. Slightly syrupy.

This is excellent. I’ve only had a couple El Catador bottles now, and they have been excellent. Makes me eager to try the others I have squirrelled away in the cellar.

My second 500ML yellow-waxed bottle from the last cycle. Split with my wife.

The pour is surprisingly dark for a mixed scotch/barleywine ale with only sporadic crimson around the edges. The nose reeks of brandy & some kind of hybrid fruity caramel. Odd.

Journeywork of the Stars furthers the path of experimentation El Cat was founded on & perhaps that’s damning with faint praise, but like the smell, the taste is…odd. Cherry & brandy are on top with an undercurrent of burnt caramel, toffee, & a hideous spike of booziness. Cocoa nibs were kicked out of the nest; they ain’t here. Finish is hard oak with a whiff of old people prunes. Hefty. Splitting the 500 was a good call.

Plenty of blends succeed but this one seems to be fighting itself. Pretty good brew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle #640/2000

Surprisingly good head production and retention given the ABV, blend, and barrel aging. Body pours clear, but settles as dark as some stouts in the glass.

Super boozy nose, with the bourbon and Brandy coming through, along with sharp oak. Aroma notes include cherry, nuts, red grape, toffee, port wine, caramel. The nose is more complex and rewarding than I can really pick apart, coming together in a fantastic melange.

Thick and almost chewy on the palate; dark and rich. The ABV is quite sneaky; while it's clearly a big beer, it doesn't hit right away.

Flavor profile stands apart from the aroma. The oak and brandy are both more up front, as is the malt base; the brandy comes along even stronger around mid sip, along with the rise of the boozy heat. Raisin notes on the finish. Throughout the sip, notes of nuts, oak, brandy, bourbon mash, red grape, caramel, toffee, brown sugar (especially strong on the finish), raisin. Like the nose, it's a complex whirl of flavors, difficult to pick apart, but each sip rewarding nonetheless.