Cigar City Brewing Warmer Winter Winter Warmer Aged In Bourbon Barrels
Cigar City Brewing Warmer Winter Winter Warmer is basically a mash up between an English Barleywine and a Winter Warmer that is hopped with citrusy American hops. This is the 2015 vintage of that beer that was aged in bourbon barrels until it’s El Catador Club release in August of 2016. I’m fond of Warmer Winter Winter Warmer, but it isn’t a Cigar City beer I seek out every year. Looking forward to seeing what the barrel does to this one!
The beer pours with a dense reddish brown color that has a solid tan head. Rich and sweet on the aroma with a lot of dark fruit, brown sugar, oak and bourbon standing out to me. The taste starts with a big helping of sweet raisins, some cherry, brown sugar, hints of spiced rum, and amazingly some citrusy and piney hops that power through all the sweetness. The bourbon comes out to play about mid-taste and it is quite fantastic. Notes of caramel, vanilla and straight bourbon meld with the decadent flavors of the beer and lead to an unexpected dry oak finish.
This is another massively sweet El Catador offering, but I have to say that the bourbon barrel aging of this beer really takes things to a new level.
