Harviestoun Ola Dubh (16 Year Old)

Second in the series. Pours dark with a bit of initial head. Compared to the 12 year: More rich whiskey aroma. More ageing. Less chocolate. More moutheel from what’s going on, but that’s astringency too. A bit of richness, but also more whiskey, more drying. May have liked the 12 better at the same abv.

Black body and a dark brown head; Good but the aroma could be bigger, all the right and very pleasant aromas but somehow the nose doesn’t know if if really wants to be a whiskey barrel aged beer or not; Super soft very pleasant body, maybe it is the fact that it is very pleasant that is wrong an old ale should not be very pleasant, it should be pleasant and very complex and hard to understand (imo of cause); Warm soft and aroma and texture in finish, again it is to simple good and not aggressive enough. A hard rating of a very good beer, Thanks.

Pours pretty jet black, with a small, quickly dispersing, light brown head. The smell is rich with caramel cream, light peat, molasses, gingerbread, dark fruit, and mild chocolate. Really dug that nose. The flavor was a little heavier on the peat and smoke than the nose let on, although not too burning or up front. Left some nice heat in the finish however. The flavor was of burnt malts and dark fruit mixing with mild chocolate bitterness and woodsy oak. Well carbonated, more than I expected. The finish was a little fruity sweet, with the mild chocolate notes becoming apparent a bit. Very nice brew indeed.

11.2oz bottle, Bottle No & date 03749/Sept 2007. Pours pitch black in color with thin brown head. Aroma sweet, dark chocolate and roasted malt. Taste chocolate, Scotch, coffee and bitter sweet with bitter and dry finish.

My Bottom Line:
Sublime peat smoke rises from the dark chocolate, vanilla and licorice dessert bestowed upon the ecstatic tastebuds in this rich, complex and highly original Old Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam lingers atop the pitch blackness.
-The salty component from the highly peated barrel alters the vanilla and chocolate aspect of the malt sweetness and takes it into sweet soy realms.
-The roastiness also takes the form of charred wood at times.
-There is barely any alcohol showing in this flavor profile.
-The smoky and roasty finish is bitter and enduring, but not too much as to bother the tastebuds.
-The body is corpulent and is easily perceptible due to the relaxed carbonation.

Bottled in September 2007.

No one around here seems to care, so I am drinking a bottle of this one on my own. Black body with a light brown head. Massive peat malt and smoke dominate the aroma. there is also some of that sea smell. at first, I could not detect the beer behind the overwhelming scotch. However, as it warmed, the beers malt was subtle with some light chocolate. The taste is the expected peat with a salty and lightly smoky finish. As it warms, the beer starts to shine a little past the whisky. There are notes of deep prunes and dark chocolate. A thick and oily mouthfeel complements the beer. i wanted to like this one more, but again, the barrel aging is just too much.

Pitch black color with a thin light brown head. Aroma of scotch, chocolate and malt. Interesting flavor of scotch, wood, chocolate and malt. The body is light to medium with a liquorous texture and soft carbonation.

This bottled brew from Indianapolis, IN poured a very small sized head of foam with a frothy top and dark brown colored quickly diminishing bubbles. The body was opaque with a black color and no visible carbonation. The aroma was of very nice dark malts and dark roasted chocolaty malts. The mouth feel was mildly tingly from start to finish with a smooth rich flavor and a soft hop backing. The flavor contained notes of nice chocolate dark malts and a smooth whiskey backing.