Harringtons Big John Special Reserve

Brewed by Harringtons Breweries (Christchurch)
Style: Scotch Ale
Christchurch, New Zealand

Serve in Thistle

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Bottle. Had this sitting in the fridge for a while now. Pours a deep bronze with reddish tinges down the side of the glass. Small light tan coloured head. Falls away pretty quickly. Looks a little lifeless in the glass. Aromas are not too bad. Some dark stone fruits, a little sweet caramel, hints of vanilla and some alcohol surprisingly given abv. Not too bad. Taste is dominated by nutty grain and more of that alcohol. Somewhat sweet. Thin mouthfeel.

500ml bottle. Pours dark black with a thick coffee coloured head. Smells raisin malty alcohol. Tastes malty, toasted nuts. Decent drop

A-- Poured a light cola color. Settled a deep, murky, dark cola color. decent ruby glow to this. Well compacted one finger of light brown head that slowly fades to a collar. Good head retention on swirling and no lacing. S-- Light amounts of vanilla, Carmel, oak and bourbon. Some peat but mostly flavors that would be from bourbon. For a 6.5% ABV beer the nose is good. T-- Best way to put this is bourbon on ice where the ice has melted. Still get the flavors of bourbon (Vanilla, carmel, touches of oak) but thinned or a tad bit watered down. Also get touches of chocolate and nuts with this. M-- Lighter medium bodied and medium light carbonation. light in the mid and back palate. Prickly in the front. Watered down bourbon finish. Slightly slick and syrupy. Get some slight bits of scorched carmel and brown sugar. Interesting. O-- Does not appear to be on a barrel at all. Website for them says on a barrel but label says touches of bourbon. My guess is infused with bourbon. Not bad at all for an attempt at bourbon and in the lower ABV range.

Bottled. Dark brown colour with some red glints. Thin white head. Some caramel and chocolate aromas, also in the taste with lot’s of malts. A full enjoyable body. Nice one!

(bottle) Very dark ruby with some tan head. Rich aroma: raisins with a hint of funkiness. Full bodied with nice but rather subtle carbonation. Flavour is (and this sounds contradictory) rich in a rather restrained way. Nice balance of sweetness with some bitter burnt / dark roast notes. Pleasant undertones of dried fruit, spice, chocolate and maybe a hint of vanilla. Overall a very pleasant dark ale, but not exceptional.

Very surprised by this. Easily the best beer I have had from Harringtons. Lots of licorice, toffee and caramel on te nose and the swallow produces a medium bodied but full flavoured delight. Never overpowering, but reasonablt strong malt forward characters dominate. A little bite from the bourbon delivers a nice after effect on the palate. Very solid offering.

Pours dark copper with a creamy off-white head. Nose shows lovely oak and bourbon notes with great caramel and light roasted malt providing the backbone. Nice chocolate and nutty hints. Pretty similar flavours but quite sweet. When all mixed together (including the not inconsiderable amount of woody bourbon) it becomes a bit too much. Carbonation is a little full on.

Bottle 500ml. Great beer. Aromas of dark fruit, plum, cola, biscuits, citrus, and a hint of alcohol. Taste is sweet, with light bitter notes, and long length. Palate is velvety, with a medium body. Dark brown, with a frothy white head.

500ml bottle. Dark plum colour almost like iced tea with a large coffee coloured head of foam that sits and hangs around. Strong fruity aromas come bursting from the glass. Pleasant with some faint bourbon aromas and a full flavoured sweet backdrop and creamy mouthfeel. Reasonably light on the palate with some subtle complexities. Very flavoursome with some big agressive flavours mixed with some maltiness.

Bottle. Pours clear, dark coppery brown with a short tan head that quickly shrinks to surface cover. Sweet, malty aroma has notes of toffee, raisins, plums, berries and wood plus a whiff of alcohol. Flavour is very similar to the aroma but with the accent more on the fruity notes than the malt. Mouthfeel is fairly light and slick with moderate carbonation and a short sweet finish. Not terrible but not a particularly outstanding Scotch ale, a little too sweet and one-dimensional.