Cigar City Brewing is one of my all time favorite breweries. I enjoy many of their offerings, including Red Tocobaga which is my all time favorite red ale. Each time I visited their brewery in Tampa, I seemed to be there during the month that White Oak Jai Alai was available in cans but never their Cubano-style Espresso Brown Ale. That was by no means a bad thing, but I really wanted to try the Maduro variant. When I did get to try it, it was in a flight and was unfortunately lost in the shuffle. That particular day was the first time I drank Hunahphu Imperial and I was drinking two different years of it. Everything in my flight paled in comparison to that beer geek moment.
For years, I have been hoping for a second chance to try Cubano-style Espresso. Well, that day has finally arrived. Ever since I first read that that Cubano-style Espresso was getting a large release I found myself counting the seconds the seconds for it to arrive. I finally had the chance to not only drink it but also give it the full attention it deserved. Much like many other Cigar City beers, it did not disappoint.
Coffee, creamy vanilla and chocolate stand out the most in the aroma. The aroma is also nutty with hints of caramel, toffee and toasted bread. The first sip matched the nose for the most part. Coffee is front and center along with milk chocolate. Caramel, nuts & toffee are just underneath those bold flavors before a creamy vanilla finish. The finish also contained a subtle hint of earthy hops as well. There is a lot to like here. The coffee treatment is fantastic. It is a touch sweeter than I want it to be but keep in mind that I am a black coffee drinker, so I prefer my coffee on the bitter side. The vanilla flavor is awesome and adds a nice amount of creaminess to the mouthfeel. In a perfect world, I would have dialed back the carbonation here ever so slightly to enhance that creaminess. That, however, is a small complaint. Cigar City has brewed a winner here. It took almost two and a half years for me to get a chance to try Cubano-style Espresso again and it was well worth the wait.
Overall rating: 4.25/5
Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!
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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!
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