Orkney Dark Island Reserve

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

Bottle. Pours thick, pitch black with a big, brown head. Intense aroma; In the vicinity of the glass it’s sweet and fruity with roasted and oak notes. In the glass it’s sweet’n’sour and dry with notes of fruit, chocolate and caramel. Flavour is sour and fruity with notes of filled chocolate, alcohol and plums. Very complex and full-bodied. A bit difficult to drink – could only take sips. Actually a bit cloying in the long run, but still some intense beer. Would love to cellar it. 24-01-08.

(75cl bottle, thanks jeffin7) Brown-black body with small tan head. Aroma is moderately sweet, chocolate, some whisky/vanilla, plum/raisin. Taste is moderately sweet, chocolate, whisky/vanilla, some smoke/peat, raisin, light caramel. Medium-full body with low carbonation and some stickiness.

Pours with nearly no head atop a brown body with red light at the edge of the liquid. Super, super sweet maple and whisky nose, I guess it’s a little cold at first, because the aroma develops significantly over time, eventually turning less sweet and more approachable – amaretto and almonds mixed with burnt, nutty maple, mixed with some chewy caramel malt base to the barley wine/strong ale that’s beneath this massive infusion of sweet whisky. But, for all the faults I could find in the smell, none of them mattered much because of the just absolutely amazing flavor that develops in the finish… up front it’s on the sweet side, and then over the middle a little more of the true whisky and wood flavors are first noticed, right before an amazingly rich and decadent bitter cocoa and chocolate flavor coast the tongue, along with a soothing flavor of dried prunes, raisins, some nuts, and some coffee. Really, exceptionally complex in the finish, and I really with the aroma and initial flavor were as stellar.

75cL bottle, courtesy of jeffin7. Thanks, Jeff! Pours a very dark, oily cola color; light tan head that fades rather quickly. Very generous, peat-driven aroma: loads of bitter chocolate, intricate whiskey notes (peaty, oiliness, wood), slightly charred and burnt; very aromatic and whiskey-forward. Very light carbonation. Full, intense bitter and dark chocolate in the mouthfeel: whiskey presence has very soft edges; integrated nicely with tons of dried dark fruits and a bitter chocolate / cocoa core. Tasty stuff, well blended. Lengthy finish, showing dry chocolate, cocoa, and a touch of lingering whiskey.

Rating #1400. Dark brown body with a tiny tan head. The nose is lightly sweet with roast, dark chocolate and brown sugar. The flavor is fairly sweet, very light bitterness with chocolate, molasses, prunes, figs and roast. Full body is soft with light carbonation.

Thanks Boboski!!! Pours a nearly opaque black. Aroma is intoxicating melange of vanilla, marshmallow, wisps of smoke and wood, some chocolate, peat and seaweed. The flavor is a touch boozy, yet it seems to work perfectly in this beer. The smoke note really makes it’s presence known here. Incredible beer.

Bottle. Brown but very quickly disappearing head. Looking through the glass and into my sharp lamp I can see some ruby nuances at the bottom. Without a lamp I would definately call it pitch black. Putting my nose close to this fuidum makes me in doubt about what is actually in the glass as it is very vineous, coffee, cocoa, prunes and plums and a good deal of alcohol. Flavor though is beer not wine, thank God. Still coffee, cocoa prunes, plums and maybe even raisins. Low carbonation, long aftertaste. If it is the long storage in oak barrels I do not know but the high alcohol contents is very well hidden and the beer appears smooth, round, pleasant and what else I can use of positive words. Very good, expensive though.

Bottle. Pours an almost black color with a small brown head. Aroma of malt raisins, dark fruit and oak. Also some weak aroma of chocolate. Has a slightly roasted malty oak flavor with lots of dark fruit and chocolate. Also a little vinous hints. Warming roasted malty finish with hints of dark fruit.