Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Special Reserve

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

Black with dark tan head. After head dissipates the beer becomes flat. Great aroma of dark fruit: prunes, raisin, black olive, along with roasted malt and chocolate with a tinge of smoke/peat moss/whiskey. Wood/smoke/peat and whiskey flavors are much more prominent upon taste. Conversely, the dark fruit flavors fall by the wayside. Alcohol taste comes in towards the end. Finish is long, peppery/peat whiskey. Ugly body, full and flat. Complex sipping beer.

1/11/2008: Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Special Reserve is dark brown in color with a small brown head that disappears quickly. Its appearance is similar to the regular <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/harviestoun-old- Old Engine Oil, but the similarities end there. The aoma of the Special Reserve is deep and complex with a spectacular blend of red wine, port, rich dark chocolate, and hints of sweet charred wood and alcohol. Alcohol is present in the flavor, but really has melded with the creamy chocolate flavor. There are also notes of caramelized and roasted malts, oak, light barrel char, unfiltered sake, and tobacco. Definitely finishes like whisky, only more full and creamy! What a wonderful blend of flavors! This beer is full-bodied and very smooth and creammy on the palate. Overall this is a really flavorful and enjoyable beer. It is impressive how much depth and complexity is added to the regular Harviestoun Old Engine just from aging it in malt whisky casks. It is well done and nicely balanced!

11.2 fl oz bottle (8.0% Alc./Vol.) ) from Dilly Deli in Mariemont, Ohio. Rating #329 for this beer...

I wish this were bigger! One of the prettiest beers I have ever seen: right there with Bourbon Imperial Brown Goose and Oaked Yeti. If the flavor were notched up - higher alcohol, a year in the barrel, it would be absolutely firm and formidable. As is, a wonderful chocolate, coffee flavor with almost no trace of hops or roast. A great beer that falls short of exceptional.

Thanks again to Brock_Landers for this one. Wonderful little beer. Pours a deep brown without a head to speak of. Smells of whisk(e)y, smoked wood chips, caramel and toffee. Big on the alcohol. Sweet notes up front of caramel, bourbon, and chocolate. It kind of tastes like one of those Kahlua chocolates you find at the liquor store counter around the holidays. Feels like engine oil on the palate (how appropriate), almost a cloying syrupy taste that you’d expect from something with the name Old Engine Oil. Great beer. I’ll definitely be enjoying this one again.

Very very good. Nice aroma. Looks like a porter. Slightly sweet taste with lots of malt. The whiskey flavor is subtle. Really nice for a cold January evening.

This is a great example of a dark ale. Nose is sweet malt, some chocolate, and bourbon. Flavor is big chocolate malts, a good bourbon alcohol warm/burn, and some bitter chocolate notes in the finish. Palate is perfect, less oily than I remember the original variation of the beer, but still rich, with mild carbonation and a balanced feel. A great beer.

Bottle. Black, with a thick khaki head. This beer has a deep, rich malt aroma, combined with chocolate, toffee and coffee. It’s all in the aroma. Sweet and heavy.

Bottled, consumed on 12/22/07. Dark brown liquid; a modest tan head was coaxed during pour. Looks a lot like a stout. Aroma: in case you missed the label that says "aged in malt whiskey casks", the nose will tell all. Smokey, salty aroma: almost like soy sauce. Silky texture as it glides onto the tongue. Mild chocolate, some bitterness and the aftertaste of peat and whiskey (complete with a little burn) round out the palate. Substantial.