Cigar City / Swamp Head Church On A Hill - Cognac Barrel Aged - Cigar City Brewing

Alieniloquium

Florida

4.33/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

750 mL bottle poured into a snifter. Bottled 7/2/12? There's an odd typo on the bottle date that says "SEQOND." Reviewed from notes.

Appearance - Dark brown. Off white head wispy and very leggy. Another sweet one!

Smell - Huge vanilla aroma. Buckets of vanilla. Cognac? Not really familiar enough with cognac to pick it out as opposed to brandy, but we'll go with it. Boozy. Lots of barrel in this one. Caramel all over, too.

Taste - Lots of vanilla and what we're calling cognac. Caramel sweetness. Really sweet, actually. Just a touch of earthy hops in the back nicely balances it out.

Mouthfeel - Thick and a boozy, but not really overwhelming for a 13% barrel-aged beer. Sweet, but I've already mentioned that.

Oveall - This is so much better than the base beer. Church on a Hill was disappointing for me. The barrel has worked magic. A delicious vanilla bomb.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2012 23:33:40 | More by Alieniloquium

mookihouse

California

4.75/5  rDev +6.3%

05-20-2013 18:26:11 | More by mookihouse

michaeljstraub

Georgia

4.5/5  rDev +0.7%

05-16-2013 19:47:59 | More by michaeljstraub

POTABLE83

New York

4.25/5  rDev -4.9%

05-14-2013 19:29:09 | More by POTABLE83

Hefewiseman

Florida

5/5  rDev +11.9%

05-14-2013 01:18:57 | More by Hefewiseman

jlwelsh

Florida

4.75/5  rDev +6.3%

05-14-2013 01:15:08 | More by jlwelsh

MrNate

Florida

5/5  rDev +11.9%

05-14-2013 01:05:30 | More by MrNate

ndepriest

Georgia

4.5/5  rDev +0.7%

05-11-2013 12:05:14 | More by ndepriest

drummermattie02

Texas

3.75/5  rDev -16.1%

05-05-2013 18:58:01 | More by drummermattie02

zach60614

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +0.7%

04-29-2013 16:04:07 | More by zach60614

beernads

Florida

4.75/5  rDev +6.3%

04-29-2013 00:03:54 | More by beernads

mdaschaf

Washington

4.25/5  rDev -4.9%

04-28-2013 23:24:57 | More by mdaschaf

thegerm87

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev -4.9%

04-21-2013 15:38:45 | More by thegerm87

Hessian257

New Jersey

4.5/5  rDev +0.7%

04-18-2013 04:27:41 | More by Hessian257

madnismo

Florida

4.75/5  rDev +6.3%

04-03-2013 02:45:16 | More by madnismo

leschkie

California

3.25/5  rDev -27.3%

04-01-2013 23:36:07 | More by leschkie

MADPolo

Florida

4/5  rDev -10.5%

03-10-2013 18:55:32 | More by MADPolo

7clutch

Florida

4.5/5  rDev +0.7%

03-10-2013 17:46:53 | More by 7clutch

ShemRahBoo

New Jersey

4.75/5  rDev +6.3%

03-04-2013 05:51:53 | More by ShemRahBoo

CLCardinal84

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +6.3%

02-28-2013 03:11:47 | More by CLCardinal84

Nrcost2

Kentucky

4.75/5  rDev +6.3%

02-27-2013 02:16:57 | More by Nrcost2

lionssoccer13

Florida

4.5/5  rDev +0.7%

02-26-2013 16:03:36 | More by lionssoccer13

rtaps

California

4.75/5  rDev +6.3%

02-26-2013 00:35:02 | More by rtaps

MrVonzipper

California

4.5/5  rDev +0.7%

02-26-2013 00:30:08 | More by MrVonzipper

jaasen64

Massachusetts

4.44/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

750ml bottle poured into snifter. Thanks Don for bringing this to our barleywine tasting. Reviewed from notes.

A- Pours a reddish brown, mostly opaque, fairly minimal head that recedes to a still top, decent carbonation.

S- Cognac, vanilla, oak, toffee, sweet malts. Nice balance without the cognac overpowering too much. Not as aromatic or as complex as King Henry.

T- Toffee, sweet malts, cognac adding a nice sweetness but not making the beer overly sweet or boozey tasting. Extremely well balanced and very flavorful, I don't think you are going to find another barleywine that is much more balanced.

M- Smooth, low carbonation but a decent amount for the style, very easy drinking.

O- We had this bottle in our barleywine tasting right after King Henry and Leon respectively. While King Henry was more complex and flavorful overall and I enjoyed Leon slightly more because I'm more of a fan of the apple brandy barrels, this beer still held it's own. I'd say it's just a step below King Henry and right on the same level as Leon depending upon what type of barrel you prefer. Overall this is definitely a world class barleywine and without a doubt worth checking out.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2013 14:55:54 | More by jaasen64