Orkney Dark Island Reserve

Brewed by Orkney (Sinclair Breweries)
Style: Barley Wine
Stromness, Orkney, Highlands & Islands, Scotland

Shared by Reakt/Mes. Probably getting shorted compared to the rest of the beasts that we tried that night, but oh well. Some fruit and chocolate, alcohol was a bit too noticable. Would do very well with some age on it. Pretty good beer for being from a place with a made up name. (thanks Sim)

750 ml bottle - thanks to after4ever for sharing this; thick, dark brown with thin off-white head; texture is thick and creamy; just a kick as nose of chocolate, sweet candy and caramel; creamy and chewy body; definitively boozy and dumps a slight burn on you, but this has a deep richness to it; Oradian Ale is a new term to me; just delish; thanks tom!!

Bottle, bought @ Skjold Burne, Store Torv, Århus, Denmark.
Pitch black with a small, beige, film head. Rather creamy. Aroma is lightly fruity tart, heavily peity with a dose of chocolate. Low carbonation, very fat mouthfeel, nice oiliness. Flavour is initially tart, lots of dried fruits, good dose of dark chocolate, good roastiness. Wonderful, long aftertaste of peity smoke and light wood.

(bottle, thanks Badgerben) Pours brown with a cream colored head. Aroma has a lot of smoke, and not too much else. The taste is also smoky as well with some light vanilla, and a lingering smoky finish. Medium mouthfeel. Not an overly complex beer, but it was still very good.

Thanks for sharing this one Todd. Nov 10., 2007 bottling. The beer pours to a black body with a creamy tan head. The aroma is peaty as hell. Some notes of red delicious apples amongst all the peat smoked wood. The flavor is a rich peat malt, sweet oaken apples, chocolate, and molasses. The are complex but not really old-ale-ish. Rich palate that finishes thick and boozy with a long sugary finish.

[bottle] shared by badgerben. Poured black with no head. Huge aroma. Roasty and sweet, with some chocolate and peat. Flavor is peat smoked malt, vanilla, some subdued scotch whisky, and some alcohol in there as well. Very good beer.

[Bottle, thanks Badgerben!] Pours black with a tan head. The aroma is chocolate, vanilla, peat and whiskey. The taste is has a lot of smoke, peat, and alcohol. Roasted malt definitely is in there as well, especially towards the finish. Medium mouthfeel with a long finish. As Ben said, this is really an unusual barley wine, but it was a good beer.

Bottled November 10, 2007. Black color with a thin head. Big peaty aroma. Lots of whisky and sherry. Chocolate. The taste is somehow not dominated by peat, but it is screaming peat. Oak and vanilla, sweet malt and honey. Very little hop bitterness, but it is there. I don’t think this is really a barley wine, but it is delicious.