BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 001)

Bottle : Batch 001 Best Before 03/03/10 Pours a dark brown with orange hue and virtually no head. Complex nose, peaty at first, than biscuit, chocolate milk, seaweed. The attack is smooth, medium bodied, no carbonation at all, wich is not distracting in this brew, than grainy in the end. Long aftertaste with the sweet warming of the 10º alcohol bringing back the scotch flavors. This is a great night cap! Altough I think it’s not made for every palate. IMO it’s the absolute opposite of any big american Imp.Stout, nothing is big in this beer, everything is subtle, and it’s nice and good! I want more...

12oz bottle. Pours a black body with a small tight bubbled beige head that fell to a thin wispy covering. Very medicinal and peaty nose with some dark roasted malt and oak. Smells more like whisky than beer. The flavor is like the nose, very much dominated by the peat and band aid phenols, overpowering much of what the base beer has to offer. Some roast and coffee are present, but they are clearly background accents. Mouthfeel is medium bodied but it’s a little thinner than what I’d like. Nice soft gentle carbonation though. Lingering Islay scotch finish. Overall, pretty decent, but only if you’re a fan of Islay single malts would you think that this was great.

12oz bottle from Liquid solutions batch 001 best by 01/01/10. Let me know if I have rated the wrong beer, all these different batches get confusing. Pours a deep coffee brown with a small beige head. Nose was very smokey and full of peat, more noticeable than the Port Dundas version. Finish was also very smokey with some underlying chocolate notes, finish was a little watery.

330 ml bottle from Bieropholie, served at cellar temperature in a tulip glass. Batch 001, BB 03/03/10.

App.: Deep black with a surprisingly frail, small light tan head. Aroma: Great Isla scotch smokiness, quite peaty with some iodine, the deep, fruity malts work in harmony, some licorice and molasses, chocolate, some very light tangy notes, a very inviting nose. Palate: Medium-ish body and almost no carbonation, a bit powdery. Flav.: Similar to the nose with a nice blend of oily scotch peat with deep fruity, chocolate malts, a bit of iodine; somewhat sweet with a fair bit of warming alcohol and a slightly metallic Scotch-like finish softened with a little dark malt.

The body was lacking but this was still a very enjoyable brew.

(Bottle, batch 006) Pours very dark brown, black in the glass with a small brown head. The aroma holds peat smoked whisky up front with undertones of tar, wet cigarette/ cigar, toffee, wood, salt water, soy, salt liquorice, burned caramel and burned chocolate. Light medical with hints of throat lozenge and numbing mint. The nose is quite sharp and the whisky tones are too present. The flavour is light to medium sweet, light bitter and light acidic with notes of smoky whisky, salt liquorice, tar, wood, earth, tobacco/cigar, dark chocolate and maybe a whisper of toffee. The finish is quite dry with a notable touch of old bitter hops. The beer is just too medical and herbal to be enjoyable. The mouthfeel is light oily, empty and hard with a light carbonation. Numbing whisky notes lingers. Near medium bodied. I hope that I will be the last one to mention this - oak aged beers are ok as long as the wood blends well with the rest of the beer. As we say in Sweden: nej tack.

Bottled sample via and shared with oakbluff. Brownish black in colour with low carbonation. Huge aromas of peat, iodine, and sea air with backing notes of mint, dried fruit, and a hint of roast. More over-the-top barrel elements in the mouth with lots of wood, smoke, and spirit, with the caramel and roasted malts creeping in on the back end. Only medium bodied. Quite unusual, as there’s so much Islay scotch influence that it’s hard to draw the line between the beer and whiskey.

Bottle, Batch 006. Pours dark black with a thin brown head. Smells of toffee and smoke. Tastes of smoke, peat, burned molasses... and many other ones that keep appearing as it warms. Very smooth, not thick at all. Excellent, easily one of the best, most complex stouts I’ve had.

Bottle says Batch 006 - I’ve read that this was a refill..
Is this a rauchbier? Damn close I tell you. The very first thing you notice about this killer stout is the huge smoke content. A total surprise to me, that’s for sure. Poured out a small brown crown with limited retention and spotty lacing on top of a near black beer. The aroma, especially early on is smoke.... lots of it. After considerable warming the smoke is still there but it is much more manageable now and reveals a thick peaty smell that seems one and the same. Combine that with burnt malts, vanilla, chocolate, tobacco and fruity notes and you have one of the most fascinating smelling stouts out there - just let it really warm up a lot so you to can enjoy (mine sat for almost an hour with small, continuous sipping). The flavor is no slouch either. Similar flavors as the aroma with some whiskey, very very mild alcohol (maybe), soft licorice (I think) and more notable sweetness with the faint chocolate showing up at the end. I almost forgot the hops which round out the finish and are quite noticeable even through the complexity of this killer brew. Even more whiskey now that the smoke / peat has faded leading to a more rounded, better blended taste. Full bodied, very smooth, no hint of a syrupy feel what so ever. Finishes with a blend of flavors and a peaty / smoke bitterness. I have insane breath! How does this match up against the other batches? Really, it is hard to compare as the ones I’ve had are so different. Never does one really notice the 10%. Although it is impossible to compare, I think this is much more drinkable than AleSmith Speedway Stout. An excellent, exceptional beer. I want much more. Let it sit in your glass!