Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale

Brewed by Highland Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Asheville, North Carolina USA

Bottle shared by bdburdman. Crimson pour with a white head. Aroma of malt and light vanilla, and some yeast. Flavor of coconut, vanilla, and some sweet malt. Medium bodied. Not bad.

From a 22 oz. bomber bottle with no bottling/freshness date, stored at cellar temperature and allowed to warm up a bit before sampling in a nonic glass. Poured a reddish auburn with a foamy, bubbly head that settled into a thin sudsy lacing, minimal amount of sticking. Aromas of red cherries and berries, butterscotch, vanilla, cocoa powder, sugar cookies and a very light amount of holiday spices. Good, even moderate carbonation and a crisp, dryish, silky smooth medium bodied mouthfeel. Good holiday/winter warmer taste, sugar cookies, butterscotch toffee, a light cocoa, a nice fruitiness, berries and apricots, winter holiday spiciness, the alcohol is barely noticeable, a lemon tea-like soft bitterness towards the end, and a dry spicy, fruity, malty finish. A tasty seasonal from Highland, easy drinkability on a rainy spring day, very enjoyable.

Aroma of spice filled ,fruit laced malt, touches of chocoalte in the finish, that slight cinnimmon,nutmeg tinged taste dominates flavor, hints of dry raspberry ,with a slight fruity grainey finish,light medium body,not exactly a winter warmer,but an eay pleasant sipper

Poured, it has a lovely dark brown color with a nice thick head. Aroma is spicy with a strong hint of cinnamon. The pleasant, zingy taste is malty with spice hints and very little bitterness. It goes down smoothly and is very satisfying. This holiday beer is a delight any time of the year, good by itself or as an accompaniment to a light meal.

Savannah, Ga - Habersham Beverages - big ass litre pop-top bottle. Murky dark orangeish-copper colored pour with a light slightly off-white head. Fresh lake water aroma, some faint overripe fruitiness - expected more. Some Christmas spices show up initially with a hint of licorice. Some candy-like notes make their presence known as well - some vanilla, and root beer. Mouthfeel is thick enough but not a highlight. Would make a decent winter warmer. Interesting to say the least.

Bonus from captaincougar. Aroma and sweet maltiness with some spices. Flavor was a little weird with some butterscoth maybe. A little werid on the palate. Had some vanilla.

2006 vintage. my first vintage of this stuff, i am hanging on to a couple bombers to try next to next years batch... This year it was overwhelming in the vanilla category, very sweet, poured an amber color with medium head... this is a regional cult favorite, one of the hardest seasonal beers to find in Asheville, a very popular cult beer, I like the mystique more, but hey, isn’t that half of the attraction....

Courtesy of captaincougar. Pours mahogany with a thin white ring of bubbles. Smells of spices, caramel, sugar and sweet malt. Taste is of caramel, citrus, spices and some earthy hints. Mouthfeel is thin. Finish is of citrus.