The version of Cigar City Brewing’s Jai Alai IPA that is aged on white oak smells and tastes like no other India Pale Ale. All the standard components of an IPA are present: four types of malt, six different types of hops (including Simcoe for dry-hopping) and a house yeast strain. But the Tampa, FL-based brewery loves to play with variations, and decided to throw their regular Jai Alai on oak (they also make a rotating selection of IPAs aged on cedar).

In fact, almost everything brewed at Cigar City is aged on wood. This is a nod to the booming international cigar trade in the Tampa neighborhood of Ybor City, known as “Little Cuba,” and the wooden humidors that hold the rolled tobacco. While it would not be unusual to rest a porter, Imperial Russian Stout or brown ale on oak, mahogany, cedar or any of the materials used to keep cigars from drying out, aging an IPA is very uncommon.

Rare as it is, it’s to great effect. The white oak gives Jai Alai and exceptionally deep and rich taste, and smooths the hoppiness you’d expect in a beer with 70 IBUs. On the swallow, a piney, resinous quality emerges, thanks to the tannins picks up from the wood casks. Discernible are bright pineapple, mango and papaya notes that characterize the IPA style, but they are rounded out by aging, and the overall flavor is that of caramel or toffee.

A thick mouthfeel culminates in a sharp finish that leaves your tongue pleasantly tingling. Poured from a 12-oz. bottle, the yellow-beige head is exceedingly hefty, the body is hazy – almost looking unfiltered – and lacing coats the inside of the glass like a second skin. The aroma is clean and fresh at first whiff, but a deep, cave-like scent can be caught, hiding beneath the surface.  

Cigar City head brewer Wayne Wambles has already won silver medals in the 2011 Best Florida Beer and United States Open Beer Championships for White Oak-aged Jai Alai, now available year-round. Though they expect to produce over 8,500 barrels this year, distribution is still limited for the Florida microbrewery (founded in 2008). Look for Jai Alai throughout Florida, and in less copious quantities in surrounding southern states, as well as the northeast beer centers of New York and Philadelphia.