Orkney Dragonhead Stout (Bottle)

Tasted 14/12/2007. 500ml bottle from Regional Wines and Spirits. Pours black, with a disappearing airy tan head. It’s near perfect from here. Where do I start? Fantastic balance and integration. Splendid entry, sublime exit. Subtle yet quite overt. Everything on the nose, follows through on the palate. Just ripe plums; aged port; dark bitter chocolate; fruity freshly-roasted coffee beans; fruitcake crust - just a touch overcooked; peat; a hint of greenish oak; a mix of dried fruit; a little milk chocolate, toasted grainy bread; sweet nuts. Light-medium weight and medium carbonation. Superb beer, superb brewery. These guys have a magic yeast. Is Orkney the world’s best ’new world’ brewery? The world’s best, bar none? I’d be hard pressed to pick a better one.

Beer pours (in Chimay glass) a dark, rich black liquid light can not penetrate with copper caramel head that lingers. Aroma is of dark, rich coffee and molasses with some chocolate, plum, raisin. Flavor is a slight hop covered by a dark, menacing, lightly-burned coffee that slowly eases away leaving a faint chocolate. Excellent beer. No alcohol detected. Sampled at 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pours a beautiful onyx with a healthy, frothy head that clings to the glass. Aroma is almost exclusively chocolate, with a bit of smoked malt thrown in for good measure. Flavor is a titilating blend of smoke and malt, heavy on the smoke. Some peat is detectable. This is a stout all unto its own. I WOULD LOVE ANOTHER ONE OF THESE.

Amazingly smooth. Smokiness and roasted tastes soothe the palate. The best overall stout I’ve experienced with a low alcohol content to boot--- the more to enjoy. Only gets better with the quantity. Highly recommended for the ’go-to’ stout!

My only complaint is that it is too watery. Very fine tasting stout otherwise. Pours jet black with a nice thin head. Tastes of roasted coffee and not much else. Very refreshing for a stout. I picked this up at the Bier Stein in Eugene. It was expensive, but the taste is very unique and well worth the price. At 4% alcohol though....I think I could have done better. Worth trying at least once, but I would love to have a fridge full of this just to sip on all day.

Mmm... lovely. Its like the perfect mix between a scotch ale and a dry stout. You get the peatiness and maltiness of the scottish ale with the dark toastiness and clean finish of the stout. Complex and refined taste all over your mouth with an extra aftertaste at the end like a smoked out chocolate kiss. YUM!

One of the finest stouts I’ve tasted. more creamy than thick (from the bottle), with hints of nuts and peat?

Pours black with an off white head that lasts quite well. Smooth but thin texture with distinct chocolate flavors. Some nice hop bitterness in the finish.