BrewDog Paradox Macallan (Batch 011)

Bottle. Pours black with an average, frothy, light brown head, somewhat lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt -molasses, chocolate, toasted grain-, average hops -perfume-, heavy yeast -horse blanket, leather- with notes of prunes, wood, and tar. Full bodied, creamy texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, moderate sweetness and bitterness, light acidity.

(Bottle, Batch 011, BB 12/12/09) Pours a dark brown body with a small off-white head. Aroma of toasted bread, nuts, scotch, barrel, vanilla, and oatmeal. Flavor of roasted malt, scotch, barrel, and light chocolate with a dry finish.

Bottled. This stuff is pretty nice. Some of these Paradox beers go way too deep with the scotch, but this one balances quite well, even picking up some of the sherry characteristics as well. Great cherry, oak, licorice, burnt marshmallows in the aroma. Very deep and enticing and never once showing any alcohol burn. In the mouth this has a full, gooey flavor, again burnt marshmallows, cinnamon, faint oxidation, wood. Almost a touch of hop bitterness in the finish. Excellent stuff here. As much as I hate to admit it, the Paradox series continues to impress.

12 oz bottle. Pours quite black with hints of amber only at the farthest extremities, and a thin khaki head. The aroma is oaky with a light, shall we say playful, fruitiness and a robust toffee and coffee conglomeration. The flavor is very straightforward oak with vanilla and cherry nuances. Under that is a pretty satisfying stout, with strong coffee and some bitter chocolate and caramel. The finish is a little bit hoppy, too, with a planty, herbal bitterness that picks up as the tannic bitterness of the oak fades. The aftertaste is an odd mixture of coffee and sherry. I gotta say, I enjoy this one.

Pours a slight watery black with a thin white head. Big roasted grain, chocolate malt, coffee, vanilla aroma. Taste is very complex, lots of coffee roasted grain and chocolate malt. Also has great barrel and vanilla notes nicely blended in to give a great smoothness. Great smooth mouthfeel with hints of scotch. Very subtle and tasty.

Black. Long black head. Aroma: Scotch, Dark Chocolate malt. Flavor: Sherry, roasted chocolate, wood. Sherry finish.

Pour is black with a thin vanilla head. Aroma is remenicent of a scotch style ale. Some highly accented nutiness, and milk chocolate in the flavor. Much tamer and more subtle on the scotch flavor versus the Islay. Good, yet the Islay was more interesting. And for the money that these are going for, it needs to be either mindblowing or at least interesting. This one was neither.

Fast forward...as I sip this and the temperature warms up, the complexity rises exponentially and the scotch flavors present themselves. Now that’s the interesting I expect.

bottle, thanks to bu11zeye, pour is pitch black, head is slight and soapy looking, nose is coffee and almonds, flavors of peat, cocoa, nuts and a dry spirits fiinish