One of the great perks of beer trading is the exposure to beers and breweries you would never have come across otherwise. When I was discussing possible trade items with a trader in Cincinnati, we decided the best thing to do would be to send each other a list of beers we could get in our respective areas and then to each choose the ones we wanted. He listed off some from breweries I had heard of and then listed a brewery I had never seen before: Listermann's. The beer he was offering was called "Cincinnatus" and he claimed that only 900 bottles of the beer had been produced. How could I say no? A few weeks later, a box came to my door containing (among other bottles) a strange looking, white wax-dipped bottle of beer with a slightly creepy-looking picture of the head of a Roman statue. Today, I decided to open it.
Cincinnatus (named after a Roman dictator who gave up the dictatorship to be with his family) pours a nearly black color with a pretty thin mocha colored head that settles to a ring around the top of the glass. The beer was aged in bourbon barrels and I picked up a lot of the bourbon in the smell along with some notes of raisin, vanilla and caramel.
The taste was pretty similar to the smell as it was dominated by bourbon flavors. This beer was brewed in 2009, so it's had a while to mellow out. This is probably a good thing, because I have a feeling that this would be really "hot" if it was fresh. As it is now, the bourbon flavors are a bit subdued, allowing some vanilla and caramel to creep out along with a hint of peat. There's a warming sensation on the finish that makes me feel like this beer is way above the 9.5% it's advertised as being. Overall, this beer was good but not great. The bourbon still (even after two years) comes off a little too strong and doesn't really allow the beer itself to shine. I wanted a bit more, but I'm still very glad to have gotten to try this one.
Final Grade: B
Top 100 Beers Tasted: 23
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