Harviestoun Ola Dubh (30 Year Old)

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

Bottle number 07576. Pours a deep and dark brown body with a surprisingly sturdy tan head that has some legs. Delicate sheets of lace decorate the goblet. Aroma begins with chocolate, followed by vanilla and smoky old wood. Scotch whiskey is evident. Exquisitely soft and smooth on the palate. Body is medium full with a subdued carbonation. Taste is complex, as expected. Chocolate, Scotch whiskey, vanilla, walnut nuttiness, and some dark roasty malt bitterness. Faint hints of anise and raisins underneath. Really a treat!

Bottle. #23206 Sep ’07. Pours black with a small, quickly fleeting beige head. Aroma is complex. Full of Irish cream, sherry, whisky, tobacco, leather, and smoke. What a nice aroma! Flavor is roasty and smoky, even more so than I would have expected from the aroma, with no lack of sweet chocolate and vanilla notes and something similar to charcoal. Some cherry notes seem to come out as well. The mouthfeel is quite thick, and this beer finishes almost like a peaty scotch. I am completely impressed by this. I was initially hesitant about purchase due to the price tag, but now that I’ve had it I’d be more than happy to buy it again.

This beer is thick. Pours pitch black and oily, smells like a leather couch in a 19th century smoking room (in a good way) nice subtle hints of scotch, malt, leather, a good cigar; there’ a lot going on here. Flavor is more of the same. I wanted to hold it in my mouth for a long time to get all the subtle stuff going on. This was a really nice beer. I had the 16 year old variant and for as good as that was, this is much better.

12oz bottle from Kingdom Liqours (Tampa, FL). Pours the color of dirty motor oil, pitch black with small off-white head. Minimal retention and lacing. Aroma is woody and smoky with notes of tobacco, whiskey, chocolate, sweet malt. Flavor is smoky and chewy with woody whiskey notes and flavors of malted chocolate, charcoal, slight hoppiness. Medium to full body with a slightly bitter finish.

Tasted @ the Uber Tavern in Seattle.
Black colored brew. Roasted malty aroma. Some smoke and wood. Flavor is smooth, wood, smoked and roasted chocolate malts. Some spices. Interesting combination of flavors.

Wow. This is a unique beer, and maybe it needs to age some more, but I was not necessarily impressed with it in all of its subtleties. It pours the color of motor oil with a very shy off-white head. It smells like wood, smoke (LOTS), tobacco, more smoke, and chocolate malt. The flavor is chewy and oily with a very woody, bitter, smoky pieces to this puzzle. It is very different. It has unique properties, and I am glad I tried it, but I could not drink a whole bottle.

12 oz bottle (around 16 dollars with tax included) into sniffer - why does RB instruct one to serve it (an Old Ale) in a dimpled mug or stein????? Black pour with a nice dirty tan, frothy lasting head. Smells rich and roasty with definite hints of dark chocolate and mellow whiskey (and vanilla) - smells like an impy stout. The more I nose it, the more I am getting dark cherry and wood notes. The flavor is very smooth, well rounded, and balanced. It has creamy chocolate and vanilla notes, some woody and smokey roastyness, with an easy going and soft whiskey finish (that is much more subtle than I expected). The flavor is not unbelievably potent or bold, but its infallible balance awards it a sturdy 9. It is medium bodied on the palate - silky smooth with soft carbonation. Overall: there is nothing wrong with this brew; it is delicious and very well balanced. HOWEVER, it is way to tamed with its subtleties and its 8% abv. to be worth 16 dollars per 12oz. This price obviously has to do with a certain rarity factor regarding production and availability of 30 year old Highland Park Barrels (as well as the name "Highland Park" itself), but I would suggest anyone interested in this brew split the cost with at least one other person. On the last and final note, everything about it defines this beer undoubtedly as a stout - an (almost)imperial stout - not an old ale. Cheers to Ola Dubh 30 taking my 200!!

From tap at OBrians. Pours pitch black with a lacing tan head. Aroma is dense roasted malt, dense oily and distinct barrel base presence. Dense roasted malt an dark barrel/whisky base presence. Solid smooth and nicely spiced. Smooth finish yet dense and mild spiced with alingering whiskey presence.