Harviestoun Ola Dubh (40 Year Old)

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

Opened on NYE and really happy I did. It pours out a jet black color, smaller sized tan cap with lazy lacing. Lots of chocolate/coffee in the aroma, oak, vanilla, light smoke and some anise. Flavor has a powerful whiskey punch, combined with chocolate and finishes with a smokey/peaty like finish. Not much wood in the flavor, but the whiskey is full-on assault. The barrel aged character is nicely done and clearly is better than the non-barrel aged version.

Pours black with a decent creamy tan head. Really nice aroma of dark malt and scotch whiskey. Peaty is the word. Full bodied with mild carbonation. Warm. Dark toasted malt - but very smooth. Very subtle heat and peat flavors. Gets very smoky/peaty in the finish. Good.

Shared by bhensonb. Pours dark brown with a modest tan head and a strong chocolate and treacle aroma. It smells like scotch and peat moss. There is a very mellow dark malt flavor with a tasty scotch finish.

330mL bottle from LCBO. Sampled along with the 12. Pours black with small tan head. Nose is amazing scotch notes with rich toffee and smoke. The nose is likely very similiar to the HP 40, which sadly I have yet to try. Body is syrupy with tons of dark malts, toffee and a lot more scotch character than the 12.

Bottle 330 ml Bottle # 01178
Appearance :
dark brown yet with some light. Dark beige creamy, beaded crown.Nose: Frontal vanilla cask, woody with hints of dark cardboard. Lighter in character than expected. 7-
Flavor/Palate : pit smoke in front , meaty with oak suggestion followed by dry alcohol burn. Quiet meaty , full heavy character. Rare brew for sure but I prefer Ola Dubh 12 over this.

330 ml bottle from the LCBO. pours black with a tan head. the aroma is of scotch. scotch, scotch, scotch. its a little hot as well. the flavour is basically all scotch with the base beer just showing underneath. much easier to drink then the aroma would have you believe. overall this is a nice glass of scotch but isnt really recognizable as a beer. the ola dubh 12 is a much better example of how barrel aging can add complexity to a beer. the 40 is an example of how to sell 9% abv scotch in 330ml bottles.

Pours black with no head. Like a cask in a bottle, but there is some carbonation. A sipper, with whiskey, dark fruit even imperial stout characteristics with a tad of roast and chocolate. Richness in taste, above average mouthfeel.

11.2 ounce bottle, bottle 54407, bottled on January 20, 2009. Served in a nonic pint glass, the beer pours very dark brown with a half inch tan head. Head retention is good, but not much lacing. The brew smells like roasted malt, chocolate, dark fruit, smoke, peat, iodine, oak, and vanilla. The Scotch Whisky aromas are pretty strong in this brew! The taste is pretty much the same as the aroma, it’s all Scotch and malt. And as far as I’m concerned, that’s a good thing. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it has low/moderate carbonation and it’s a little bit coating although it does seem a bit thin at times. Drinkability is very good, it’s smooth and pretty easy to drink. Overall I think this is a pretty good beer, but then I like malty beers and Scotch. That and I liked the other Ola Dubh beers I’ve tried. This beer isn’t cheap at all, but it’s definitely worth a try.