BrewDog Paradox Speyside (Batch 010)

Courtesy growler. Pours a dark mahogany brown with a thin, tan head that bubbles up around the edges. The aroma shows notes of dark chocolate, roasted malts, and the peat smoked whiskey. The flavor shows a lot of chocolate along with some caramel, vanilla and all blended in with the smoky whiskey flavors. You get a good amount of heat from the whiskey, but there is a lot of flavor to balance it out. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and smooth that goes down very easy with some bitterness and heat on the backend. This one was blended really well which made it an enjoyable experience.

(33cl bottle, sampled side-by-side with Islay 009, Macallan 011, and Glen Grant 003) Small beige head that mostly diminishes atop clear red-black body, no lacing. Aroma is medium sweet, chocolate, some Scotch/alcohol, light caramel. Taste is medium sweet, Scotch/alcohol, chocolate, some smoke. Medium body, low carbonation.

11.2oz bottle, courtesy of argo0. Thanks, Aaron! Done with comparison to three other Paradox Impys. Pours black, ruby edges, tan head. Aroma is more roasted malt, more vanilla. Flavor is chocolate, less whiskey up front, more in finish, slightly medicinal, smoke.

Dark brown. The aroma is woody, alcoholic, with light smoke and light chocolate. Smooth, full of peppery alcohol and molassesy malt. Fairly burly, woody with some minor iodine character. The least balanced of the three I got to try and that’s why I liked it best.

11.2oz bottle. Batch 10 BB 01/01/10. Poured a dark brown color with red edges and an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of wood, chocolate, a little earthy, roast, raisins, and some vanilla. Tastes of whiskey, vanilla, wood, chocolate, and dark fruits. Medium alcohol in the finish.

Transparent dark mahogany with notes of charcoal and spotty-lacing light tan head. Aroma of dry, toasty caramel and earthy peaty character. Body starts with decent fullness and semi sweet dark maltiness with a smooth, dry, earthy Scotch balance toward a slightly warming finish. Pretty good brew, but not my favorite of the Paradox series.

11.2oz bottle, courtesy of argo0. Thanks, Aaron! We did a side-by-side of four of these (Islay 009, Speyside 010, Macallan 011, Glen Grant 003), and they looked nearly identical: dark, murky brown color; thin, light-tan head with fine-bubbled lacing. Loads of intense candy sugar, dried dark fruits, and caramel in the aroma; stout beneath is much more apparent in this one than the Islay 009; chewy and pleasant. Relaxed carbonation. Loads of chewy dried dark fruits (raisins, dates), caramel, and sweet red fruits; medium-to-full mouthfeel: like a barley wine more than an imperial stout; very chewy, generous, with lightly toasted malts and very light barrel / scotch character. Minimal, at least following the Islay. Lengthy finish: toasted malts, very dry, with lots of dates and raisins.

Bottle (RBESG 08): Almost black with a small foamy beige layer; leather and liquorice in the nose, mixed with aromas of vanilla and wood; full bitter-sweet flavour; some smoke and vanilla, again, in the warming finish. O.K. .....