Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Special Reserve

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

A little fuller body and this beer would be really awesome. Pours like a thinner imperial stout, with an aroma of chocolate, malt, oak and a nice (but not overpowering) hint of whiskey. Flavor is more of the same but its nice because the whiskey flavor is subtle and does not over-do it. Kind of has a flat finish, but pretty good stuff.

Bottle. Dark brown. Aroma is chocolate, booze, peat, smoke, and some slight sour aromas too. Flavor is quite sour in a way with some booze, chocolate and some fruit. Mouthfeel is a bit thinner than I would like, but it is still very nice.

Pours a dark black brown color with a small light brown bubbly head that quickly shrinks . Nose is soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, oak, smoke and peat. Mouthfeel is very nice adn syrup like. Taste is booze, oak, charcoal, teriyaki rice. The alcohol taste is obvious but you do not feel the burn. Pretty good.

11.2 oz bottle, 2002 vintage. A vigorous pour yields a brief, sudsy tan head atop ebony. Nose is whiskey, molasses and chocolate cake. Smooth medium body, a tad flat. Taste is toffee and raisin getting woody with sherry. At 6 ABV this has held up pretty well but still feels faded.

Bottle. Pours a dark blackness with a brune head. Lightly vinous with notes of merlot, whiskey, chocolate, wood and dark fruit. A nice etoh warming. A very solid beer.

Bottle in generic goblet. Dark brown/black with lasting brown head and lace. Chocolate milk port and whiskey aroma. Bitter chocolate dark fruit earth wood and whiskey with bitter chocolate whiskey finish. Medium-full body and medium carbo. Wow! Complex and delicious. Really takes on the whiskey flavors without overwhelming the excellent roasted chocolate robust porter. Now to pair it with some dark chocolate.

Bottle. Pours like its name... dark, dark brown. Has a minimal film of tan bubbles on the surface and sports aromas that are slightly smokey, sweet and roasty. There is also a kind of damp earth/leather smell... First thoughts on flavor are that it comes awful close to being too sweet... near cloying brown sugar flavor mixes with some dark fruit and alcoholic warmth, while still having a bit of a smoke and chocolate edge to it - especially in the finish.

Bottle, 2002 vintage. Pours a dark brown with no real head, just some bubbles. Not as thick texture-wise as the regular version. Aroma strongly of alcohol, along with chocolate, molasses, and sweet malt. Flavor is quite different from the original version. No roasted notes at all, just lots of light fruitiness (apple), sweetness, and some almost tart-like sour notes similar to those from a Flanders sour. Not cloying though and the alcohol does not dominate but rather blends nicely with the malt (one of the best whiskey-aged beers I’ve had). Reserved in flavor, definitely not as "hot" as I had expected. The palate is smooth but wears a bit as you drink. This took me awhile to get through but it was still quite enjoyable. Is it better than Old Engine Oil? Well, it’s quite different and in my mind they were about the same in quality but had quite different flavor profiles.