Harviestoun Ola Dubh (18 Year Old)

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

Bottle at Mallaskukko, Turku. Dark brown to black, thin dark beige head. Lots of buttery real vanilla on the nose, woody whisky alcohol, simple but enjoyable. Flavor is wood, licorice, soft and sweetish whisky feel, dark molasses, slightly coarse salmiak finish. A bit empty palate, same is with all of these. Enjoyable whisky beer, very much in line with the others in the series, maybe slightly heavier on the vanilla.

Big thanks to Peter from Angelica’s in Redwood City, who was nice enough to provide us with this excellent beer while we were having a tasting there. Great guy, good to see more people running quality beer establishments in this area. Pours black and fairly viscous with a nice tan head. Great aroma of smoke, chocolate, tobacco, leather, and scotch whisky. Flavor is similarly complex with lots to it: roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, smoke, Copenhagen tobacco (this is not a bad thing), vanilla, and wood. Also some Scotch whisky of course. Rounds out very well. Body is medium and palate is smooth. Great beer!

A black colored beer, with a thick almost brown head. By pouring out the whisky flavors are explicit there. The aroma of fruits, with coffee and chocolate. Hints of vanilla. The taste of roasted malts, fruits chocolate and whisky notes in the back with alcohol. The aftertaste is dry with coffee bitter.

Bottle. Deep dark brown color. Malt, whisky, smoke, caramel and vanilla in the aroma. Malty sweet alcoholic flavor with caramel, molasses, peaty malt whisky, chocolate, vanilla and raisin. Some roastbitterness in the finiah. Warming complex beer.

330ml bottle, 2009 vintage, no.12539, enjoyed as an aperitif to lunch at Olympen in Oslo. Deep, dark brown body with ruby highlights. A thin, tan layer on the surface. Inviting aroma of dark vanilla, raisin and liquorice. Rich in flavour with peaty malts up front, developing into a nice taste of coffee and hints of chocolate added by notes of anise. Dry, bittersweet ending that lingers for a long while with a whisky-like tint on the back of the tongue. Very pleasing with a rounded and velvety mouth feel (shared with Øyvind, 13.10.2009).

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Nearly a black pour, small off white head. Aroma of bandaids, scotch, and chocolate. Flavor has iodine, whiskey, chocolate, peat and a salty note. Not my favorite Ola Dubh but not bad.

Bottle, at Cardinal. It pours a black body under a rapidly diminishing beige head. Oxidation, chocolate and roasted malts on the nose, dried fruits as well. I think the whisky was quite subdued in the nose, but more pronounced in the flavor, where it added a good warmth. Oxidation, vinegar notes, roasted malts and hints of chocolate too. Full-bodied and slightly warming. Roasted, oxidized and chocolate finish with some alcohol. A quite yummy beer that I won’t shy away from again. Rating: 7-4-7-4-15--3.7. 090728

Bottle, courtesy of fonefan. A clear, dark, dark brown beer with a small, beige head. The nose has peat, coffee, smoke and roasted malts, with some spirits as well. Peaty, lightly smoked flavor with roasted malts and some spirits. Full-bodied, dry and warming. Long, warm finish with peat and roasted malts. A pretty nice one-hour beer. Maybe my rating is a bit influenced by the seventeen low-alcohols and bier-mix getränke we had before this one. 090823