To Øl - "#Yolomælk" imperial stout [Denmark]

In the spirit of supercharged beers, crazy marketing gimmicks, and unpronounceable letters, here's an interesting and perhaps unique beer from Danish brewery To Øl. This beer, called "#Yolomælk", is a colossal 14.00% ABV imperial milk stout made with salt, caviar and champagne yeast.

I've never heard of a beer being made with caviar, and am skeptical as I'm not sure what it would add to the beer. Champagne yeast is an interesting, yet understandable choice; it's a medium-attenuating, clean, and neutral yeast with a propensity for a very bubbly end product. Salt is not an uncommon ingredient; you may recall I reviewed an Israeli dry stout in 2016. So I've got some idea what to expect - dark, dry, slightly salty, probably not too boozy.

Since I was working on New Year's Eve and didn't get a chance to celebrate, this is my celebratory champagne...beer...thingy. Cracks open from the tallboy can with little fanfare, and when poured into the glass it generates a heavy aroma of malt, and frankly some of the darkest foam I have ever seen - almost chocolate brown.

First thought - wow. Very strong malts, a massive wave of booziness accompanied by sea salt and brine - I guess that's what caviar tastes like? I'm not detecting any chocolate notes or cocoa notes - something I usually expect from dark stouts - and instead that salt plays a big role and makes the beer surprisingly savory. Texture is very smooth, not at all bubbly like champagne yeast would suggest. In terms of texture it's quite velvety, but presents a bit of freshness - in this way, it's quite similar to Snitz Creek's "Seltzer's Smokehaus No. 9", especially that salty savoriness. It's soft on the way out, but leaves a long lingering finish of sea salt that I really enjoy.

I definitely expected a darker, roastier beer (especially at 14.00%) but was surprised at how savory and soft it was. The salt is most welcome and turns what could have been just another overpowered, sweet, oily stout into a really fantastic offering. Since it's so unlike a stout, I highly recommend this for those interested in dark beers but don't like oily or roasted flavors. I was also surprised at the booziness; I expected it to be softer but it's really quite pronounced.

I'm not sure how available this is - we got it in the shop only briefly - and it's also available in a 750mL, but it's unclear if that's available in the US or only in Denmark. I bought this 16oz can for $9.99. In any event, if you see this can, get it. It's worth a try and will surprise you.

Trader Moon Wine Co. - 2014 "MoonX" black pinot noir [California]

I'm always on the lookout for cheap, serviceable wines for quaffing (an oenological term for, well, just mindless drinking) and today's wine is just that. It's a 2014-vintage black pinot noir from Trader Moon Wine Co., which one can only assume is another one of Trader Joe's house blends (like the VINTJS imprint.) Since there's no AVA labelling, one can expect that the grapes have come from many vineyards and/or are the refuse from prestigious wine houses. Yes, that's where a lot of cheap wine comes from. And no, it's not always a bad thing.

Recommended to me by Celeste, the winetasting expert at Trader Joe's, the MoonX not actually black, as the name suggests, but super dark red in the glass. I suspect that the "black" nomer means that the grapes are either at their peak ripeness or are a specific strain of pinot noir that's particularly dark in color. It's purple when candled, though, which is cool.

Not much on the nose, a little bit of esters. Initially, it's actually fruitier than I expected. I guess I was expecting a dark berry, heavy, and hot wine but this is interestingly light at first. As the wine develops, there comes a pleasing strength and lots of dark berry flavors (almost bitter, actually, which surprised me yet again.) You can definitely taste the alcohol on the aftertaste.

I served this with homemade canneloni, red sauce, and a romaine salad with mascarpone, olives, pepperoncini, and a touch of olive oil. The wine cut through the mascarpone pretty well but in spite of the robustness, didn't really affect the taste. At $6.99, it's a good wine to try and good value for the money.

Drew Estate: MUWAT Kentucky Fire Cured "Swamp Rat"

I alluded to the candela wrapper in my November post about the Cigars International store in Hamburg, PA, and it's about time I dive into an explanation. Today's cigar is one of the ones that I picked up during that visit, and in fact purchasing this (along with its Drew Estate ACID "Kuba Kuba Candela" cousin) is one of the main reasons for visiting the store.

Here we have the brand new "Swamp Rat", which is a 6x46 cigar from Drew Estate's Subculture Studios / MUWAT Kentucky Fire Cured line. It was announced at the 2016 IPCPR trade show and launched at the October 2016 Kentucky Barnsmoker event.

Yes, this cigar is partially green. That's the candela wrapper, or at least a segment of it, and a very interesting addition to the cigar indeed. Sometimes called double claro, candela is a name for tobacco leaves that are picked while still young and quickly dried. The result is a very mild and light cigar, basically the opposite of a maduro.

This is actually nothing new to the cigar world - in fact, according to Cigar Aficionado magazine, candela cigars were so popular in the early 1900s that they were called "American Market Selection." They seemed to have lost popularity but are now "boomeranging" back into vogue; it was very common in the 1920s, went out of favor, and now is starting to see a comeback. Last year I smoked a rather-large Arturo Fuente "8-5-8", which had a candela wrapper, and it was just so-so. Aside from the Drew entries, an ACID cigarillo, that Arturo Fuente, and some Al Capone cheapo machine-mades, I can't recall seeing any other candelas in the stores or online. But they are coming back, I promise.

Despite this being a tad dry, it cut OK. There's still a nice campfire aroma to the unlit cigar. No cracking along the wrapper or serious issues with the parejo capa. I'm smoking this alongside my brother Dan, who is also smoking one for reference.

Cigar lights up nicely; despite the cold it burns evenly. First reaction is positive - certainly it's lighter than the normal Kentucky Fire Cured cigars, lacking some of the sweeter and smokier flavors. That's an immediate observation. The earthy flavors - pine wood, grassy, slightly vegetal - are in contrast to the usual KFC flavors of firewood and charcoal. It doesn't generate huge clouds of smoke, but that's probably on par with this format and size, and perhaps a function of the cold.

Midway through: smoke still going great...some mottled pale gray ash. Dan is liking it, in his words, "100% better than a normal KFC." I happen to love the normal KFCs, so I disagree, but I'm also liking this quite a bit. Lots of grassy and light flavors here, without some of the more disagreeable "young tobacco" notes that I experienced when I tried the Fuente I mentioned before. The flavors are keeping fidelity well, and as the cigar winds down, I end up getting that telltale sweet, heavy nicotine flavor that I get when I push a normal KFC too hard.

I'm actually quite impressed; the cigar (to me) is almost unrecognizable as a KFC entry. I guess this shows the importance of the cigar's wrapper, and how much flavor is derived from the thin - yet critical - layer of exterior tobacco. (I've included a photo below of the cigar without the band, to see where the candela meets the maduro wrapper.)

Overall, Dan and I were impressed with the quality and the taste and is probably my favorite candela cigar to date.This cigar cost $7.50. I also grabbed a ten-pack of the larger variant, the 6x52 "Swamp Thang", for $66. If you're looking for a mellow cigar with nice flavoring, you may want to give this a try!

Badwolf Brewing Co. - "Cyngus X1 Grand Cru" quadrupel

Hot on the heels of my review of Arthur Guinness & Co's really neat double extra stout, here's an interesting bottle I grabbed back in July - it's a hefty Belgian-style quadrupel ale from Manassas, Virginia's own Badwolf Brewing Co. Clocking in at 11.50% ABV, it's a bit too heavy for summer drinking but works well with a cool, crisp, late October evening. Or perhaps something to warm you up in this deep freeze we have been experiencing!

I was first drawn to it, in the shelf at D'Vines because of the moniker on the label: "the first beer that ever mattered." Now, I wonder if they're referring to the first of THEIR beers that ever mattered, or the first beer in general that mattered. In any event, a tall order, so let's see what's under the hood.

Today's bottle is a Belgian quadrupel - as noted in previous posts, this name is related to the strength of the beer...in olden days, casks would be marked with an X to denote strength. So this would be four Xs, while lighter variants are dubbels and tripels, terms still used today. How widespread this practice was is I don't know, but it's made its way into beer terminology. I've had quads before, and am a big fan: the best example is a fine Belgian quad from Boulevard, the Bourbon Barrel Quad. This one has been aged for three months in barrels from A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Fredericksburg, VA, and the 12.68oz bottle comes coated with a thick layer of black wax over the top. Took me quite a bit to pull that wax off, actually.

Upon pouring (into my commemorative SAVOR glass, no less) a powerful nose of puckery wood sour is generated. Very strong and projects well over two feet away. The eye is a really pleasing deep reddish-brown color, and there's very little foam generated.

First flavors that hit your tongue are caramel, along with some toffee - nicely in balance and quite powerful. For being a powerhouse, it's velvety smooth and lacks any overpowering alcohol flavors. There's some "booziness", a term used to describe the quality of heavy beers, often with a sweetness from alcohol, but this beer doesn't overdo it. Again, another surprise given the fact it's almost the strength of wine. It finished up with the toffee, and that most welcome wave of boozy sweetness.

This is serious, and perfectly done. What strikes me the most is its uniformity - the flavors are both identifiable yet blended, and the formidable alcohol is hidden. There's no unwelcome textures or flavors and it's like a wave of warm, woody goodness. It's $9.99 for the bottle, so definitely still in the realm of affordability and well worth the cost in my opinion. I'd even pay more for this. Seek it out if you can! Perhaps buy two - drink one now and age one for next year.

Nota bene: I have actually started working at D'Vines part-time. Rest assured that the shop has never provided me a discount or anything in exchange for mentioning them on this blog; it's merely a great place to pick up good beer.