José Martí India Porter - French Oak - Cigar City Brewing

metter98

New York

4.08/5  rDev +17.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: The beer is very dark amber (near black) in color and poured with a finger high beige head that has good retention properties and consistently left a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface.
S: There are strong aromas of chocolate, coffee, oak and roasted malts in the nose along with some hints of vanilla.
T: Similar to the smell, the taste is very complex (due to the barrel aging) with flavors of chocolate and mocha along with notes of vanilla and hints of licorice.
M: It feels relatively full-bodied and smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation. There is a bit of dryness, which is most apparent in the finish.
O: The oak aging definitely adds an interesting level of complexity to this beer, which makes it a nice one to sip and savor.

Serving type: bottle

07-31-2011 16:49:10 | More by metter98

Gtreid

Florida

3.75/5  rDev +8.1%

05-20-2013 00:47:46 | More by Gtreid

Bluecane

North Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -6.3%

04-21-2013 06:43:00 | More by Bluecane

GrindFatherBob

New York

4/5  rDev +15.3%

03-29-2013 00:47:22 | More by GrindFatherBob

manutdfan

Florida

2.5/5  rDev -28%

03-18-2013 19:21:45 | More by manutdfan

Dope

Massachusetts

3.69/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

No bottle date that I can see. I got this through the Rare Beer club probably a year ago. I heard it was extremely oaky so I let it sit for a year.

A: Very dark brown pour. Enormous fluffy light brown head. Takes forever to fade away, leaving a nice island behind. Nice swath of lacing everywhere.

S: Smoke, roasted malt with some char and chocolate. Charred oak. Decent amount of anise.

T: Smoky up front with lots of meatiness too. A little char and chocolate. Intense wave of oak in the middle, like chewing a 2x4. Anise and smoked meat in the finish.

M: Medium bodied, smooth.

O: Hmph. Hopefully the oak has faded a bit with age but it's still very woody. It's also quite smoky with lots of meat. I was really reaching to get some roasted malt, it was mainly just smoked meat, oak, then more smoked meat. If you're a fan of beers like this you will probably love it. As for me I'm not a fan of smoked beers or intensely oaky beers either (see, Great Divide anniversary series). This was a little rough for me as a result.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2013 04:05:49 | More by Dope

jk3

New York

3.25/5  rDev -6.3%

02-03-2013 00:43:37 | More by jk3

brentk56

North Carolina

4.03/5  rDev +16.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: A rocky beige head caps the fudge brown-colored liquid and delivers an impressive lacing performance

Smell: Strong, oaky aromas underpin black bread, coffee, chocolate and vanilla

Taste: Black bread and molasses, up front, with the coffee, chocolate, vanilla and oak flavors building through the middle; after the swallow, however, the oak dominates though pithy hops also enter the profile; rather tannic in the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: Although the oak is powerful in this beer, there are a lot of other flavors present and I was rather pleased with the outcome

Serving type: bottle

11-21-2012 00:39:19 | More by brentk56

sendbeer

Georgia

3.5/5  rDev +0.9%

10-27-2012 15:52:30 | More by sendbeer

t0rin0

California

4.25/5  rDev +22.5%

09-15-2012 21:37:21 | More by t0rin0

neobob187

Florida

4.5/5  rDev +29.7%

08-27-2012 15:35:23 | More by neobob187

avaldivia

California

3/5  rDev -13.5%

08-16-2012 16:59:17 | More by avaldivia

WastingFreetime

Wisconsin

3.15/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Reviewed from tasting notes.

Poured out a dark brown with two cm of tan head on top that lasts for about a minute and a half, minimal lacing.

Smells of garam masala, dark chocolate, black coffee, charred malt, and a touch of licorice.

Tastes of bitter tannic oak, combined with a splash of acidic soy sauce over the typical porter chocolate /coffee. In some ways, the oak wood is almost like a hopping substitute. In other ways, the oak wood is a completely overwhelming force that drowns out many of the other subtle flavors that probably would have existed if the wood wasn't there.

In summary, this one has a bit TOO much wood. Because it has gotten to the point where it is obvious that the wooden flavor is obscuring some of the more delicate nuances of a beer's flavor.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2012 21:19:29 | More by WastingFreetime

Alieniloquium

Florida

2.5/5  rDev -28%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

750 mL bottle poured into a pint glass. Reviewed from notes.

Appearance - Black with a big off-white head. Good retention. Great lacing.

Smell - Hops, coffee, and lots of oak. Serious oak.

Taste - Tastes like regular Jose Marti at first. Hoppy, coffee, chocolate. Then the oak hits. Like a train wreck of oak. Strong, ashy, dry oak. Bad.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied. Terrible finish of oak. Medium carbonation.

Overall - Really ruined by the oak. The oak flavor is overpoweringly bad. The beer starts off good and ends up nearly undrinkable.

Serving type: bottle

07-21-2012 19:38:00 | More by Alieniloquium

johnnnniee

New Hampshire

4.28/5  rDev +23.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Received in trade from MeadMe, thanks for the opportunity!
Pours a solid dark brown with a huge bubbly tan head that slowly recedes to lots of sticky lace. Smells of chocolate and roast with a hint of licorice, earthy and herbal with some faint woody notes. The flavor comes through with chocolate and roast up front that segue's to a vinous and earthy herbal flavor. The finish is a bit heavy on the woody, but nothing like the cedar aged stuff I've tried. Medium body with a moderate to heavy level of carbonation and a bubbly earthy oaky almost ashy mouthfeel. I've gotta hand it to Cigar City for always surprising my taste buds, this is another wonderfully unique beer that I'm glad I was able to sample.

Serving type: bottle

07-08-2012 01:56:48 | More by johnnnniee

Gushue3

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev +0.9%

06-24-2012 18:46:32 | More by Gushue3

mv945

Washington

2.25/5  rDev -35.2%

06-20-2012 19:57:17 | More by mv945

bespin15

Washington

2.75/5  rDev -20.7%

06-18-2012 01:04:44 | More by bespin15

Spider889

Ohio

4.18/5  rDev +20.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Big thanks to sendsilk for this bottle. It ranks as one of my top 3-5 CCB beers to date.

Black with a tan head. leaves excellent lacing on my glass.

Wow the aroma is flush with white oak. The French oak is actually distinguishable - it has a new furniture and more floral quality than American oak does. Nice char aroma from the malt with green hoppiness.

The flavor begins with big oaky notes as well. The oak tastes fresh, dry, and grainy. Loads of bitter green hops - the base beer is considered an "India Porter" by the brewery I believe.

Super dry mouthfeel from all that oak.

Overall the oak is borderline overpowering, and I do feel like half the people i shared this with at Jackie O's felt as much. But for me this was extremely delicious and showcases just how powerfully positive oak can be in the right beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-30-2012 20:41:59 | More by Spider889

thewimperoo

Illinois

1.5/5  rDev -56.8%

05-22-2012 23:52:02 | More by thewimperoo

billab914

Virginia

3.38/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Thanks Rhettroactive for sharing this one. Poured from a 750ml bottle into a tasting glass. It poured black in color thick foamy head. Pretty nice looking beer of the style.

The aroma has a pretty bold, woody oak presence to it. It mixes with some sweeter cocoa and a little hoppiness as well. The French oak seems to dominate a little too much though making it seem too one dimensional.

The taste also shows a lot of the woody oak to it, especially in the finish. A little more sweeter caramel and chocolate to it along with some hoppy, herbal bitterness. Again, the woody oak just seems to dominate it a little too much.

The mouthfeel feels a little thin for the style with moderate carbonation. Overall, it was a decent but not great beer. It felt one dimensional with the oak being the dominant flavor. The oak just didn't compliment it all that well.

Serving type: bottle

04-10-2012 13:22:18 | More by billab914

Rhettroactive

Virginia

2.95/5  rDev -15%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

From 750mL bottle to Portsmouth glass on 4/5/12
*From notes

A: God damn dark. Rich brown to black hue gives this the appearance of an RIS, not a Porter. A .5 finger creamy head leads to a good collar and solid lacing.

S: Herbaceous. Freshly shoveled earth. Wood chips. A touch of hops circle my nose too, yet it's all a bit one note and not all that appealing.

T: Way too much wood. There's not enough balance or complexity, as the French oak bludgeons the base beer. Jose's typical hop bill is sorta-kinda there, but muted in a really negative way by the tannic and off-putting wood. They don't marry well in the slightest. Even when I'm finished with each sip, I can't get the char out of my mouth.

M: Plenty thick and rich. CCB has a history of top shelf body, and this is no exception.

O: I can't recommend this beer. It's unbalanced in a way that comes off as lazy and uninspired. Maybe a rum barrel or some type of agave nectar infusion would be cool. But as it is, this is most certainly not very good.

A (somewhat) rare miss for CCB.

Serving type: bottle

04-09-2012 23:36:18 | More by Rhettroactive

pokesbeerdude

Colorado

3.58/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750ml bottle courtesy of blazer06. Into a Deschutes Snifter.

A: Pours a deep brown with 2 inches of tan colored head that doesn't want to go away. Incredibly dense head. Nice rings of lacing that are left behind as the head slowly recedes.

S: Interesting mix of wood, slightly burnt malts and caramel. Some decent notes of coffee and chocolate. Fresh cut wood really dominates the nose.

T: A lot like the base beer, with a huge charred oak presence. Still fairly hoppy with some citrus thrown in the mix. Decent amount of hop resins in here as well. Chocolatey and slightly roasty. All of this lies under a MASSIVE amount of wood. Oak flavors linger on the tongue forever after the swallow. If the oak was knocked back by about 40% it would be so much better.

M: Nice here, medium body with lower carbonation finish is mostly dry which is probably a result of the oak.

O: Just too oaky for my tastes. I like the oak to impart subtle woody characteristics, this just over does it, even more so than the Odell Woodcut beers. Glad I got to try it though!

Serving type: bottle

03-04-2012 22:51:22 | More by pokesbeerdude

acurtis

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev +0.9%

01-17-2012 21:17:19 | More by acurtis

stxSS07

Illinois

2.08/5  rDev -40.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

Reviewed from notes. Split with lookitsmp.

A- Pours a dark brown with a tight finger of head that leaves nice lacing, but recedes to a cap fairly quickly.

S- Huge notes of oak followed by some coffee, sweet milk chocolate, vanilla, and some booze. Extremely wood-forward beer.

T- Huge oak/wood again followed by some roasted notes, but mostly trumped by a plastic taste that permeates the entire beer. If you've ever smelled burning Styrofoam or plastic cups...it tastes like that.

M- Thin and highly carbonated.

O- Strangest porter I've had. Strongest woody/off flavors I've encountered in a brew. Really disappointing since I love Jose Marti so much.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2012 10:05:51 | More by stxSS07