Borve Extra Strong

Formerly brewed at Borve
Style: Barley Wine
Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Serve in Snifter

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(Quite aged - might be retired, not sure. Dutch friend still got it in Scotland - thanks Michel!) Quite clear, dark-amber to dark-chestnut ale, yellow tinted head, fast gone. Madeirisation in the nose, winter cake enriched with brandy or fortified wine, oak wood, alcohol and fusels. Taste ’tainted’ with liquorice, smoke, old oak oats, pinewood, giving an incredibly complex and beautifully balanced beer, having a sweet, but rich malt base, and a full, but not harsh bitterness that is part hops and part turpentine-like. Indeed like a near-solid extract from the Grampians. Very full bodied; age & alcohol mellow it without destroying the structure. Long sweet-bitter, aromatic and near-fruity aftertaste, like plums steeped in whisky and some bittering agent (Angostura?). Oh yes, it’s old, but one cannot destroy wood-aged 10%ABV! It was a great beer, and it still is.

First tasted this rare barley wine at the Paisley Beer Festival in April 1984. Cask gravity dispense. Dark garnet red in colour with a thin white head which quickly disappeared. Strong vinous aroma of sherry notes evaporating off in heady alcoholic fumes. Interesting mouthfeel for a 10% as its quite thin and not as thick as was expected. Non existant lacing. Dark malt complex gives booming fruit notes of moisture laden christmas cake, with black cherry, sultanas, dates, damsons to the fore. Not much in the way of hop resins in this heady concoction as sweetness blasts its way towards the finish with vanilla, mead, glycerine fruit and a warming, almost throat burning Glayva note at the end. I found this barley wine intimidating and it is very, very potent. A fantastic but sadly rare Scottish barley wine and a privilage to taste and savour.