BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 001)

Formerly brewed at BrewDog
Style: Imperial Stout
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Bottle. Clear red brown colorued with an off white ehad. Sweet aroma of liquorice, smoke and whisky. Roasted and smoked flavoru of liquorice, wood and hops. Hoppy and smoky finish.

Black of color with a small beige head. An aroma of liqurice, smoke and cacao. a flavor of Animal, smoke and whisky notes.

Bottle, 11.2 oz. Opaque pour with a fine tan head. Wood and whisky in the aroma for sure - smoky, chocolate, peat, dirt, musty, and an underlying hoppiness. Alcohol is apparent. The aroma is a pleasant suprise, not hugely balanced, but enjoyable. Flavor isn’t as appealing to me - soy sauce, bitter smoky peat, mushy earthiness, overripe fruit, and a surprisingly flat finish. Tremendously smoky and not as hot as I’d expected, even at cellar temp. Medium bodied, which is strange considering ABV. Probably needs some time.

bottle from plan-b. bbf 30-12-2008. as Batch 006. sampled 05-03-2009 dark brown almost black, small thick light brown head. peaty , hoppy, smoky aroma. not as extreme as i had expected. a little vanilla perhaps?. well rounded. flavor has distinct islay characters, smoked peat, sweetness, vanilla, toward the end it gets more bitter and charchoal and smokey. ends very smokey and roasted. 10% alc. totally hidden. If you like stuff like laphoriagh you’ll love this flavor.

Bottle @ Chris_o shindig 2007.
Dark brown color with a small, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, beige head. Aroma is smoke, oak, heavy medicine. Flavor is moderate sweet and old chimney soot with a long long duration. Body is medium, texture is watey, carbonation is flat. 2/4/2/2/3 (040807)
Bottle 33cl @ Home. [ as BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 006) ].
Clear dark brown / black color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, beige head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, burnt, peat, oak - wood, smoke - chimney soot, medincin notes special in the start. Flavor is moderate to light heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a long to average duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. 6/4/7/4/15 (200708)

Suttree’s 2008 Pre-Brewer’s Jam Tasting. Sample from a bottle thanks to tronraner. Quite clear ruby black pour with a thin frothy light tan head. Potent peat, smoked aromas but light briney scotch tastes overpower all stout flavors.

March 2007Chris_o Shindig. Lots of hop bitterness introducing a smokey burn. Some cut grass left in the damp for a couple of days. Oaky with whiskey notes. Balsamic vinegar and imperial stout notes with savlon and dentists room. An interesting beer - though perhaps too much happening and not quite enough pleasantness. OK though. [3.4]
Feb 2008330ml bottle from Gretna Green. This is a filtered product, but not pasteurised. It tastes like what you’d expect from an Imperial Stout that had been left in a peaty whiskey cask for a while. The extra flavours and aromas the peat whiskey adds to the base beer certainly add interest and pleasure to what feels like a fairly run of the mill Imperial Stout. It’s like it needs the extra character of the whiskey to lift it out of the ordinary. However, full credit, it does lift it out of the ordinary. Not quite into the realm of something special like Harvey’s Imperial Stout or the Courage Russian Imperial Stout, but certainly higher than average. It’s a shame that the beer is filtered because the lack of living yeast character is noticeable - the beer itself is pleasant, but dull. The whole thing is certainly highly, highly enjoyable - and I feel I got a little more pleasure, flavour and satisfaction out of this sample than I did during the hurly burly of the sampling at the Chris_o Shindig. [3.6]

Name: Paradox 001 Islay
Date: 10/02/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Green’s, Atlanta

Appearance: black, thin beige head, bits of lace,
Aroma: big scotch aroma with a strong woody and smokey character, dry dark roasted malt,
Flavor: rich roasted malt flavor, lots of bitter dark chocolate, complex wood character, lots of smokey scotch, the dark chocolate and scotch combine with the wood for a long bitter finish,
Overall: a bit over the top with the scotch

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **4