BrewDog Paradox Macallan (Batch 011)

Brewed by BrewDog
Style: Imperial Stout
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Bottle, black pour. Great aroma here. Thick with chocolate, molasses, scotch, sherry. Flavor is rich and sweet. Vanilla, chocolate, scotch and toasted wood. One of my favorite brewdogs to date.

Pours dark brown, thin mahoganny head. Aroma is malty, grainy with hints of fresh sherry, vanilla, chocolate. Flavor, wood/cask, whiskey, light roasted malts, some tobacco / char flavor, reminiscent of other Paradox beers. Light sherry palate with hints of raisin/wine, wood/cask add . Vanilla followed by a nice alcohol warming mouthfeel. The sherry is not over pronounced but gets easily picked up after the second sip. Finish has some thin sherry notes mixed with possible chocolate bitterness. Tasty.

Original review date 6/22/2008... Batch 11 with a BBD 3/3/2011. The Portsmouth snifter is the vessel of choice for this one. As suggested by the BrewDog dudes, served at room temperature. This looks like a very solid impy. Jet-espresso-black that’s very opaque. There’s a very solid full finger of ginger-colored head - it leaves a fair amount of lacing. Maybe the head retention could be a little better...but it could be much worse. I’ve seen BrewDog stuff that’s a little uneven in carbonation and head retention, but this is much better. I was expected a huge Scotch or Sherry bomb based on previous experience but this is very mellow - the oak aging is very subtle and there’s not that vanilla excess. This has the roasted coffee malt with a little bittersweet chocolate. There’s also a pretty decent hoppiness to it - a little grass but maybe more pine. Not a whole lot of booze but we know it’s there - maybe just a little Macallan nose with a wisp of Sherry. Sheeeit, this is quite soothing. Creamy on the palate with copious chocolate malt - maybe a little patent but very lean on harsh tannins. Smooth as all get-up - I’d almost enjoy a little more booziness but this tastes more like a traditional Imperial Stout. BrewDog has really shed the "gimmick" nuance with this one, because it stands on its own with a much more subtle notion of the Macallan cask. It gets a little bit lighter with warmth and the Macallan notes start emerging but they still remain nicely mellow. Warmth on the palate from front to back is very calm - its weight gets lighter as the Scotch notes emerge with warmth. Earlier it has a creamy texture that is extremely inviting; this relaxes after a while but it is far from clammy. Overall this is an inviting package that may temper and relax a bit as it warms but it’s still a very good offering that is more traditional than other Paradox series offerings I’ve sampled. Extremely well-constructed. Another one that begs for a solid stogie.

Thanks to Cheeseman, I think. Flavor is full of whiskey, but it really is a little more subdued than I thought it would be, especially comparing to others in this series.

Dark brown. Slight haze. Mellow whiskey malt, sherry nose with some chocolate and roast. Sweet, soft sherryish, woody, lightly smokey character. Very well balanced.

black, no head. Coffee, smoky, earthy aroma. Very earthy flavor, but it mixes well with the stout flavors. Nicely balanced, and the macallan never overpowers the beer. Very tasty.

Pours brownish black with a small tan head that’s bubbly and lacy. Aroma of toffee, wood, vanilla, salt water, peat-smoke, leaves, and coffee. Pretty nice on the nose. Taste is pretty sweet with vanilla, wood, toffee, hazelnut, peaty smoke, chocolate, and a slight raisin note. The finish dries things out with coffee, wood, raisin, charred smoke, and vanilla/hazelnut. Bitterness is present, but flavorful. Medium bodied but not lacking in flavor (I thought the Isle of Arran batch was). Definitely a healthy marriage of whisky and beer.

Tap at blind tiger. Poured a blackish brown. Nose was way smokey. This gets better as it warms when all of the flavors pop out. Smokey and Peety with deep oak flavors. This is not for the faint of heart. Deep charcoal notes. It’s the type of beer you either love or hate. I loved it