BrewDog Paradox Speyside (Batch 010)

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

12 oz. bottle. Pours black with orange extremities and a small tan head. A swirl leaves nice, high legs. The aroma is brown sugar, roasted barley, vanilla, some sweet oak, and little bits of chocolate and alcohol. The flavor is rich bitter chocolate, sweet smooth Scotch, little bits of vanilla, coffee, and charcoal. Once in a while I get a pleasant smoky note. The finish is ashy and bittersweet with a coffee-ish aftertaste. This is one of the better beers in the Paradox series.

bb 01/01/10 # 010 pours dark brown, off-white head aroma is malty, hints of vanilla, roast, coffee and caramel. flavor, whiskey and wood, caramel malts with some hints of roast and chocolate. Sweet vanilla. Beer retained a thin peat/ash mouthfeel. Finish has nice notes of whiskey/wood and warming abv.

23rd August 2008. Well integrated whiskey, Bitter chocolate and some bitter coffee in the finish. Rich and rewarding.

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.

I’m pretty sure this is the same as the batch 11 speyside batch, which is what im going to rate. Bottle from oddbins kilmarnock rd in shawlands, pours nearly opaque with a tan head. By far the most sessionable paradox, hides the 10% extremely well probably more than any other beer, chocolate brownie taste with only meer hints of whisky, wood flavour comes in the form of creamy vanilla and i find little hint of grain in this beer. not the best in the line probably the most drinker friendly and sessionable though.

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.

Pours a dark and translucent mahogany brown color with a small, bubbly, tan colored edge. Minimal, spotty lacing rejoins the body. The aroma shows a chocolate and caramel malt base, with notes of long-since dried dark fruits and a kiss of peaty, smoky whiskey. Flavors reveal more choco-caramel, a good dose of vanilla, molasses, and permeating, woody whiskey. The alcoholic heat runs about average for the Paradox series, which is formidable, to say the least, but I believe that is what they are going for here. The mouthfeel runs a little thin for the style, but is indeed silky smooth and lowly carbonated, as it should be. Overall, a very enjoyable brew. Par for the Paradox course.

330 ml bottle, batch number unknown. Black color, bare wisp of a tan head. Whiskey and dark malts in the aroma, as well as some chocolate. The flavor contains additional whiskey notes, notably vanilla. Molasses, coffee and dark malts are present as well, along with some dark wood. High ABV is well-hidden. Full body, low carbonation. Thick mouthfeel. Pretty good.