Harviestoun Ola Dubh (16 Year Old)

Brewed by Harviestoun
Style: Old Ale
Alva, Central, Scotland

Bottled. Black color, short head. Aroma of roasted malt, whisky, peat. Peaty whisky taste, malty, chocolat, coffee. Good stuff.

bottle. black pour, minimal head, lightly carbonated. flavors of chocolate, sherry?, and a few other things I can’t place. Very smooth. Tasty

Name: Ola Dubh 16
Date: 03/28/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Green’s, Atlanta

Appearance: black, short lived creamy tan head, bits of drippy lace,
Aroma: aroma of of dark chocolate candies filled with whiskey, touch of vanilla builds the sweetness, hint of roasted balances it back out,
Body: ceamy body,
Flavor: creamy dark chocolate flavor, touch of whiskey and vanilla for sweetness, roasted for balance, the chocolate and whiskey continues to grow and take over until it almost becomes a whiskey candy but held back by the drying character of the roasted malt, light bitter finish drifts out of the roasted and dark chocolate, touch of alcohol,
Overall: a bit richer than the 12 with more of the whiskey sweetness,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

2009-04-02. Pitch black body with a pleasant smooth creamy brown head that fades (3+). Aroma is mild in the same way as the 12 year version, but seems "smoother" somehow, even though the whisky touches that are interwoven seem slightly stronger, modest roast malt. Flavour has more prominent whisky than the 12, touch dry overall with a sweet malty core. Light bitterness throughout lingers into the aftertaste, spurred on by the alcohol. (7+) Smooth medium bodied palate is a bit under carbonated but it mostly works for the beer. Not bad by any means but the increase whisky and alcohol representation made it less drinkable for me than the 12. I might not have noticed as much if I had not had them back to back. Bottle from Village Beer Merchant, Buffalo

Bottle from Dilly Deli. Poured clear dark brown color with full brown head that diminished slowly with good lacing. Heavy aroma of caramel, nuts, and peat toasted malt. Medium to full body with smooth texture. Medium toasted sweet earthy wood flavor with a medium sweet whiskeyfinish of long duration. My expectations were met with a smooth complex brew.

Bottle (330ml). Shared by jerc and mabel with me and garthicus. Oily black pour with an average creamy frothy dark tan head. Rich, dry iodine/peat aroma with light toffee roast maltiness. The taste is quite similar to the 12 year-old - iodine/peat balanced against sweet malt, but in this 16 the scotch is more intense and acidic; detracts a little bit from the enjoyment. Slick, slightly light body, acidic with a bitter/boozy linger - very nice, just a little less balanced than the 12-year-old.

Bottle.

Pour deep brown, almost black, very small head. Glorious aroma. A restrained, sophisticated sweetness of stone fruit and molassas leading; deep peaty, smoky whisky following. More and more of the smoke comes out in the aroma as I progress, to the point that it’s really quite heavy once I’m half way through the beer.

The flavor and mouthfeel disappoint somewhat. The former because I was expecting a little richer dried dark fruit, and instead the beer is pretty ashy, dry, even pushing salty (not so bad in and of itself, but very much not what I was expecting and hoping for, given the aroma). It’s a bit harsh, a bit burnt, an unpleasant not-hops-but-something-else bitterness on the very long end. The latter because it comes off thin compared to what one expects from the aroma and appearance. Nonetheless, we’ve got an enjoyable and well crafted beer. Certainly interesting, certainly different, but not only for the sake of being interesting and different. It actually works pretty well. Not that this price point -- but that’s another issue altogether and not one that I’ve taken into account in the ratings. Given that I didn’t drink this one head-to-head with the 12-year and given that it’s been a while since I had the latter, I can’t really compare the two well beyond to note the similarities, suggest a slightly better integrated whisky-barrel character to the 16 (but this could be my imagination), and note that the 0.2 point difference between my ratings of the two is probably within the margin of error.

Bottle. Pours black with a one finger tan head that fades to a ring and leaves some lacing. Aroma of whisky, vanilla, roasted malt and oak. Taste is whisky, vanilla, coffee, and oak. Medium mouthfeel with a moderate amount of bitterness and warm but smooth alcohol. A very good beer but I like th 30 better.