Cigar City First Account Stout

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Rated in May 2009. Pours deep darkness. My pour ended up with an impressive mocha colored mild shake head. The aroma is moderate in strength with roast, chocolate, cedar and faint dark fruity goodness. I get a wafer thin layer of spicy hops deep in the background. The taste begins with an impressive silky mouthfeel ushering in deep velvety dark chocolate which is followed by dark roastiness to modestly burnt malts. The burnt malts may also be a light amount of dark roasted coffee. By midway a full cedar note joins in that isn’t too bright and compliments nicely and adds a hint of a dark toasted wheat bread sensation. I’m told this beer has hops. My senses rarely pick up on anything less than 70 IBUs. I’m pretty sure I’m getting a mild bite of hop bitterness coming from just a sense of spicy hops. The smooth dark chocolate, smooth cedar and mild burnt notes mask most of the hops for my palate. It ends with each note being sustained deep into the after taste. Twenty minutes later I was still tasting yummy rich dark chocolate and a sense of both cedar and dark roasted coffee. Wow!