Highland Imperial Gaelic

bottle, at Carolina Crew get together. I think I got this from ross. Good aroma, sweet. toffee, nutty, tobacco, plum raisin. Clean brownish orange color, good head, minor lace. Sweet bitter flavor. Got some citrus that I didn’t get in the aroma. Medium body, viscous creamy mouthfeel, bitter finish. Nice, probably could still sit on this as I got some heat from it. Aroma was my favorite part as it had several thing going on.

Sampler from a growler brought by Oldgrowth to the Carolina Crew Gathering at Turd’s. This one has held up quite nicely after a couple years (at least I think that’s its age). A full copper pour with a slight cloudiness and modest head. Some toffee in the nose combined with a perky fruit quality, making for an interesting updating of the style. It really does come across less like an imperial scotch and more like Coronado’s Red Devil or something like that, because the hops are very much still there in addition to the fruity qualities. Regardless of designation, this was a nice one to sample.

Thanks to oldgrowth for bringing this to the Carolina gathering. Pours a deep red with some haze. Thin light tan head. The nose had mellowed nicely, sweet, earthy, caramel, citrusy, had some barley wine qualities. Citrusy flavor, grapefruit peel, a lot more hop character than I was expecting, caramel, again more barley wine characteristics Nice smooth warming mouthfeel with a citrusy grapefruit peel finish. Very glad I got to try this.

We popped this over Thanksgiving, and it had been siting for well over a year. We wanted to drink this and the Imperial Kasmir back to back for comparison. I have to admit I was impressed with how well it has stood up, the nose was largely fruit forward and still very hoppy. This had really mellowed into this slightly sweet caramelly with some sweet toffee candiness. Delicious!

This one’s been sitting for about a year and a half. Finally popped the cap to ring in 2008 (although I have sampled at a few tastings over the past year or so). Carbonation remained excellent even with the rubber stopper. Pours a cloudy reddish peach color with a thick stand of bone white head, which leaves spotty, sticky lace. Aroma is caramelly and sweet with candied sugar and a variety of fruits including peach, mango and some darker/pitted. Flavor is big and juicy, with bitter hops up front and in the finish with a dollop of sweet thick caramel and fruity notes in the middle, all surrounded by some fresh dry hops that have held up reasonably well with time. Very smooth with fine carbonation and full palate; just slightly warming with no alcohol noted. This was a delicious, complex treat - much more than just a big Gaelic Ale (which is a solid, but unexceptional red ale). Thanks to NachlamSie for the trade - would have hated to miss out on this limited edition beer from a fine brewery.