BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 001)

Formerly brewed at BrewDog
Style: Imperial Stout
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Bottled
Dark ruby brown color, small cappucino head. Very intensive whisky nose: vanilla, oak, smoke and tar. Flavor does not match totally with aroma - whisky notes are toned down. It has loads of tar, licorice and other roasted flavor plus some odd vegetable (beans?) notes. Aroma is definately super, for flavor I can’t decide if I really enjoy this or not.

(Bottled) Very dark brown with a small head and some lace. Very malty, ashy and smoothly oaky, whiskey-like aroma with chlorine hints and some alcohol. Very tarry, roasty and ashy flavor with a long, dry-ashy-smoky finish. Quite full-bodied, dry-ashy palate with low carbonation. Interesting and intese, but not the most balanced.

Bottle at cad and my flat. Pours a gorgeous smooth ebony colour witha tannish head. Strong aroma of smokey islay whisky, expresso, peat, bitter flavonols with a strong rosted character. Flavour is very complex with initial flavours of creme brulee, rich dark malts, ink, burnt choclate cake, rum truffles ending on a slow alcohol warmth with evident whisky flavours. Nice dry extremely smooth finish with long lingering hints of islay. Will be great to taste this beer with a differnt whisky cask.

When I bought this I had terrible thoughts that this would be another Innis and Gunn type affair. Not so! Smooth, heavy whisky notes as you might expect, which somewhat mask the alcohol content - as does the body - it’s thinner than you’d expect. Flavourwise - reminded me of those rum and butter toffees you used to get years ago. Only downside is that at £3.20 a bottle, it’s not one for an evening session

UPDATED: MAY 16, 2012 Bottle at home ... solid black ... smokey malt touch burnt nose ... touch of iodine ... roast malts ... overly smokey ... big burnt linger like licking burnt toast. Again in tasting tutorial at Edinburgh beer festival 07.2nd bottle much the same mostly burnt tones. There no way i could drink even half a bottle of this. This is a really strange beer, in that everyone here seems to like it. But 90% of non ratebeers ive let try it or spoken to who have tried it, really havent taken to it at all. Well now its had a wider sampling it does seem to split people. Just not my thing

Bottle at home at the Brewdog vintage tasting ... 001 vs 006 ... 001 dark black ... thin tan head ... light iodine nose ... soft roast malts ... 006 dark black ... lightest lacing ... light toffee malts ... soft roast ... barest iodine much lighter ... 001 ... toffee mellow malts ... soft roast ... cheway malts ... light iodine ... ligth fruit ... 006 ... dark fruits ... soft iodine up front ... dark malts ... soft dark fruits .,. oddly seems more iodine flavours left in this. stick at 2.6 006

Bottle from stall at Taste of Edinburgh. Damm this rocks! for a islay whisky fan this is as close to perfect as a beer gets! Initial aroma dominated by smoke and peat. Initial palate stout flavour shines through - coffee, chocolate, vanilla and liquorice. Then halfway through the beer flips completely - all the smoke in the aroma comes through along with the whisky flavours. Very well rounded silky smooth body with alcohol really masked. Cant wait to drink another bottle - try it!

Beautiful near black body with a deep red shine, medium sized bubbles in head with alright duration; Very special nose, at first it seems like the beer has a fault with almost chlorine notes, really fast you realize it is very clear Islay notes mixed with malty beer notes, tone of tar, sea water, dried dark seaweed, behind it a fine layer of chocolaty malty notes; Quite big (perfect) amount of soft carbonation, quite balanced on the sweet side, slightly bitter as well; Quite long very warm finish, actually also a bit sharp and burning, lots of Islay aromas, more settled aromas then in nose , tar and smoke are the most apparent elements, actually quiite hoppy bitter as well, but no hop aromas at all. Very special, almost more like a whiskey then beer. A thin malty sweet Islay whiskey: To be honest I dont know if I have rated this beer right, it is a bit to strange. Thanks Tom.

UPDATED: JUL 29, 2007 A Mes rate: 33cl bottle from Tom during the Weekend of Tarts. Dark red / brown colour with a tan head. Amazing peat whiskey nose that boarders on the o.t.t. Flavour is similar with glorious smoky old oak barrel notes and obvious peaty whiskey. Clear alcohol but in a lip smackingly good ’this could get me shitfaced’ type way. I love imperial stouts, I love good whiskey and I’m in luck, they go together really well here. Excellent stuff. Thanks again Tom. Very much looking forward to the next versions of this in the other barrels.

WOW! A pure Smoke Bomb!! Boght at Grampian food Market. The most intense beer I have ever taseted!

Bottled (huge thanks to magic_dave6!). Dark brown colour, amost black, with a big mediumsized creamy beige head. A lot of Islay smoked hints in the aroma along with the allround whiskyishness. Flavour is quite the same with some vanilla, dark chocolate, roasted malts and slight bittery notes. Truely an amazing Imperial Stout. Guess I’m a lucky punk still having a bottle of it in my cellar... Damned near perfection!