Reviewing the Laird's Apple Brandy Barrel Aged Grande Negro Voodoo Papi in from the Voodoo Brewing Company out of Meadville, Pennsylvania. This beer is Big Bad Voodoo Daddy brewed with vanilla beans and cinnamon, aged in Laird’s Apple Brandy barrels.
Score: 98
Bottle #212, dated 09/24/13. Served in a 50/50 Eclipse mini snifter and enjoyed on 12/20/2013
Appearance: Coffee color, with soda syrup highlights outlining the glass. Pours a thin layer of cedar colored tan head that quickly settles to a pencil thin ring around the glass. 3.5/5
Smell: Maple, vanilla and smooth apple brandy notes with a lovely cinnamon backbone. A little nutmeg too. Faint notes of chili peppers and a kiss of leather. Rich and robust. Has a nice mix of spices, though the spiciness is muted. 4.75/5
Taste: Big notes of chocolate/milk chocolate, with a very mild and crisp spicy pepper prickliness that dances, but does not linger, on the sides of the tongue. This spicy liveliness intensifies a bit if you let the brew sit on the palate for a bit. Cinnamon and nutmeg throughout, shining mostly in the finish. Not a whole ton of barrel character to the taste, very muted in this regard. Light maple and vanilla notes too. This beer is mostly about the chocolate and the crisp spiciness, but the other subtle complexities complement nicely. 4.75/5
Mouthfeel: Full bodied, quite viscous. Perfect low carbonation level. Lovely spiciness that is lively but crisp and not palate wrecking. Quite balanced. 5/5
Overall: This is a really excellent beer that I felt was superior to California Brandy Hunahpu’s. There is a nice mix of spices and spiciness complementing a very-chocolate forward flavor profile that is quite balanced. I highly recommend this delectably crushable brew.
Cost: $25 for a 22 oz bottle.
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