Cigar City Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout
This Russian Imperial Stout is dedicated to Gregory Zhukov. Arguably one of World War II’s finest generals and a man bold enough to appreciate the rich, complex flavors of a beer brewed to fortify a body through the Russian winter. Like military geniuses, Russian Imperial Stouts reach their peak with a little age on them, so we release Marshal Zhukov’s Russian Imperial Stout in sweltering August so that it will be at peak flavor come January or February.
Opaque black in color, the aroma has notes of espresso, chocolate, dark sweet toffee with hints of black strap molasses. The flavor starts with an unsweetened chocolate character and supporting notes of herbal dryness from English hop varietals. It then moves into dark toffee sweetness and closes with a slap of roasty espresso. Zhukov’s Imperial Stout pairs well with Mushroom Solyanka, dark chocolate, cherries and ground wars in Russia. Enjoy, comrade.
4.1
1040 reviews
Tampa, United States
Community reviews
Pours dark, little sweet with a brown head. You can let this one warm up in the glass and it enhances the flavor. This is the first year I have seen it outside of Tampa Florida. You may be able to find the bottles in a shop near you this year, although I did clear out the one closest to me!
Syrupy opaque black pour, dark tan head. Aggressively roasty, with chocolate, espresso, licorice, and molasses. Taste is the same, add hints of vanilla and burnt wood and black bread. Lovely. Bottle courtesy of and shared with Zoltan.
8-5-7-4-14
Bottle, vintage 2017. Pours pitch black, with a creamy brown head. Aroma is dark roasted malts with coffee, cocoa, burned malts, rye bread and muscovado, as well as tobacco, tannins and wooden barrels. Full body, with soft carbonation. Flavour is burned malts, with bread, coffee, cocoa nibs and leather, as well as molasses, raw liquorice, tobacco and wooden barrels. Semi dry dusty minerals in the finish.
Ordered online from the LCBO in June, kept this one to myself as I watched the last game of the Jays’ 2020 season. Fun team to watch, looking forward for the playoffs. Nicely balanced and extremely rich, that one was a no brainer as a pick. Lucky to have such quality beers from time to time from the LCBO.
650 ml bottle from the LCBO. Pours a jet black colour with tiny brown head. Aroma is big on treacle and sharp toastiness along with coffee and toffee. Flavour has big, rich molasses character with strong toastiness, espresso and toffee. Lingering roasty char in the finish. Nice one.
Amazing beer. Nice bitterness balanced by malt. Perfect amount of roast and molasses flavor
Pours black, mahogany edges, thick with a thin tan head. Rich rich rich! Heavy leather, smoke and coffee on the nose. Big time feel, thick and full. Notes of dark fruit, chocolate, espresso, light spice, molasses. The back yields to a pleasant hop bitterness while maintaining that big feel.
From the 650 ml. bottle dated 11/25/19. Black as night pour with a modest but quickly diminishing tan head. Bold aromas of roasted dark malts, chocolate, caramel, char, red grape, and a little bit of booze. The mouthfeel is full and smooth. Roasted sweet malts are in the flavor and I pick up more alcohol here than I did on the nose. But it sure is a warming Impy Stout with an earthy bitter finish.
Bought a crowler from Three Cellars. Pours dark black with a nice tan head that leave great lacing on the glass. While I enjoyed the beer, I can't say I found it to be a 99. The sweetness on the front end was a bit much, and it quickly switched to a bitter finish. I liked the buzz it gave me, but the drinking experience was just OK. I would like to try a tap or bottle sometime - I might need to re-rate it when that happens.
Bottle from the lcbo. Jet black, thick, oily pour with a large beige head. Big soy sauce nose, with copious amount of dark, charred roasted malts, burnt brown sugar and espresso. Mouth feel is oily, and dense. Finish is medium bitter, less than expected. Some dark fruited notes make their way through, subtle pine resin, rounded out by more huge roasty, burnt goodness and strong espresso. Old school impy stout, not overly hopped like many, great stuff.
Pours a deep brown-black colour with minimal head. Aromas of booze, roasted malts, and some toffee. Complex taste. It has a lot going on. Roasted malts, toffee, coffee, a some spicy notes. Full bodied with moderate carbonation. Warming feel from the high alcohol content as it makes it's way down to my stomach. Loving it. I think its "booziness" would dissipate if we let it age more.
Bottle from the LCBO, what a find. Pours intense black-brown color, cognac gold highlights. Aroma a little chocolate and dark dried fruit. Taste a pretty intense set of layers, rich malt and roast and coffee, some old school kind of umami and licorice pipe. Has an almost liquor-like density and persistence of flavlor, and the alcohol is not too warm. Figgy raisiny and almost port like dark dry fruit. Heavily built. The flavors are dense and carry on for a loooong time... it's a good hybrid of UK traditional and USA style RIS, with some nice leathery tones setting off the ample richness. The tricky thing is when do you stop drinking it.
Bottle from LCBO. Terrific Imperial Stout, full of chocolate and maple sweetness with sharp roasty bitterness.
Thick, low carb IS. Not much head. Complex selection of malts, perfectly roasted. Long finish. Warming and moreish. The alcohol is noticeable, but that's a nice thing in this case, like chili on your pizza.
One of the better IS expressions I've had in a long time. Made me want to try more from C.C.
Pours black with no head at all. Thick body texture with low carbonation. Aroma of chocolate and alcohol. Roasted malts with alcoholic after taste. Chocolate and espresso are really hard to taste.
Bottle - 650ml. Pour a thick, opaque, black body with an average, brown foamy head. Well balanced, rich malty aroma with chocolate and roasty hints. Alcohol is unnoticeable. Its robust, complex malty taste carries roasty, cocoa, plummy, oaky, and liquorice notes. Ends with a long, strong, warming, sweet/roasty finish. Excellent winter warmer.
Pours thick and black, brown head, goot retention, spots of lacing. Roasted barley to the nose, with coffee, licorice, molasses, soy sauce and dark fruits. Tastes roastey-bitter, with turns into a balanced moderate sweetness, rich of chocolate and coffee, toffee and molasses. Full bodied, thick mouthfeel, sticky long finish. It's a typical Russian Impy, an excellent work of perfection!
Nasty inky black pour. Heavy as hell. Tons of roasted dark malt and molasses. Dry dark coffee. Super intense. Alcohol burn is on full display. Super roast malt is way in the forefront keeping any sweetness in check. General Zhukov will break your legs, then trample your tiny western testicles into a fine powder, mix it with a fresh Siberian snowfall, then drink it in his morning coffee while planning an invasion of Crimea.
Bottle from Systembolaget. Pours a dark colour beer with a smal head. Roasted malt with notes of licorice, chocolate, coffee and vanilla. Dry finish.
Lähes musta lasissa jättäen tumman ruskean vaahdon. Tuoksussa on vahvaa espressoa, tummaa suklaata ja paahtunutta mallasta. Suutuntuma on hyvin paksu ja maku pitkäkestoinen. Mausta löytyy edelleen espressoa, lähes tuhkaista mallasta ja ruskeaa sokeria. Loppumaussa tuntuu alkoholin potku.
Black with a large almost dark brown head. Aroma of cocoa, dark fruits, wooden barrels and chocolate. Sweet with a warm wooden barrels and chocolate Finnish, some alc.
A very dark imperial stout. Vanilla espresso aroma, with hints of red berries. Taste is bitter chocolates, cocoa, and dry vanilla. Long, burnt aftertaste.
Black with thin head. Aroma and flavour have plenty of dark roasted malts. Well balanced and nicely bitter. Very light smokiness.
Bottle shared by Anders, thanks. Small fluffy brown head. Complex aroma with piny, roasted malty and hoppy aroma. Sweet malty smooth taste. Firm bitternesd.
Flaska från Systembolaget. Brunsvart vätska med ett tunt, kaffefärgat, skum. Brödig doft med antydan av bär. Lätt sur inledning. Kaka, choklad och kaffe. Mycket eldig och med lång eftersmak.
0,65 l bottle from Systembolaget Gothenburg. 0,65 l bottle and 11,8% is big deal. Beer was superb, thanks.
On draft, six months of age on this release. Jet black with a tan head. Full body with syrupy mouthfeel. Roasted malt and molasses flavor. Nice bitterness, which I mainly get from the roasted malt and a bit from the hops on the finish. Rich. Nice beer.
Oily, black pour with a light brown, frothy head that fades away. Aroma of chocolate, molasses, and soy sauce. Taste is surprisingly bitter, full of herbal, hoppy, and metallic bitterness on a clearly sweet, caramel and dark chocolate foundation. Finishes hard and bitter with some boozy notes. Heavy, oily body—mild carbonation. Way overdone with the hops.
750 ml bottle pours a dark black color with a small white head. Aromas of chocolate, malt, caramel and coffee. Full bodied, an incredible beer.
22 oz. bottle. Pours a medium, well retained, dark beige head, with minimal lacing over a clear, very dark brown (SRM 40) body....nose is roasted malts, with cocoa, chocolate, coffee tones, other ingredients add toffee, caramel, molasses notes, slight herbal hop tones.....taste is slightly sweet with caramel, molasses notes, roasted malts with chocolate, slight coffee tones, moderate herbal hop notes, with almost dry, medium bitter hop finish.....mouth feel, heavy, slightly sticky, almost creamy body, alcohol warmth, moderate carbonation. This is an utterly superb Imperial Stout which is great as a cold weather beer. It is delicious.