Harviestoun Ola Dubh (30 Year Old)

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

12oz bottle. Bottle# 10364. Aroma: Rich roasted maltiness with notes of peat smoke, chocolate, caramel and anise. Barrel aroma comes through strong with some oak and vanilla. Salt water and alcohol. Appearance: Dark, dark brown in color with no highlights. Medium tan head was full and foamy with good retention. Good lacing. Flavor: Roasted malt with notes of bittersweet chocolate, coffee, caramel. Lots of peaty smokiness upfront and throughout. Barrel flavors are well done with oak, vanilla, and lightly toasted nuts. Fairly big alcohol kick for an 8% beer. Nice, smooth finish. Palate: Medium bodied. Moderate carbonation. Light alcohol warmth in back of mouth. Overall: I liked this a bit more than the 12. The peat really came through strong here, and the barrel flavors were a bit smoother. But, the mouthfeel still feels a little light for everything that’s going on. Pricey, but worth a try.

Quite a good beer. Had subtle whisky notes, but they weren’t that prevelant, still tasty. Vert dark, could hardley see any light through it. Went down quite smoothly.

A- Pours a deep black with a small, caramel head which fades slowly. S- Smell consists of hints of caramel, chocolate malt and an intense sweetness. T- Taste is very balanced, toffee, butterscotch, bits of roasted malt and hints of whisky towards the end. M- Medium bodied with very little carbonation. D- I really didn’t taste as much whisky in this as everyone makes it out to contain. It is good and well balanced but perhaps a bit overated in my opinion. This was pushing the border towards imperial stout and I wish they would have toned back the roastiness a bit and let the old ale aspects shine through more.

4 oz. glass on tap at Uber. Pours deep, dark brown with a very small head. Aroma is of cacao and oak, with a very noticeable note of peat (scotch whisky) coming through. This brew is thick and syrupy, and doesn’t have the carbonation to clear your mouth - it’s left feeling well-coated. The taste is of an imperial stout with some scotch thrown in, though not quite as strong / pungeant as I would have liked. For something this rare and this expensive ($20 / small bottle), I want it to knock my socks off. There are a number of stouts I’d take over this, price notwithstanding... but still, a very fine beer, and it certainly has novelty.

Dark clear brown pour with a filmy head. Strong peat aroma on the nose with a bit of smoke. Peat dominates with hints of bitter cocoa and some kind of dry wood.

This bottled brew from a bottle shop in Indianapolis, IN poured a small sized head of mostly diminishing frothy light brown colored bubbles that left behind an oild lacing and an opaque black colored body with no visible carbon ation. The aroma was of mild chocolate and dark malts. The mouth feel was tingly and crisp from start to finish. Very stout like. The flavor contained notes of mild whiskey, smooth dark malts and mild chocolate malts.

On tap at 2 differnet places. Aroma reminds me of a great rhone syrah if you give it about an hour or 2 in the glass. Tough as the temp tends to not be right when you enjoy the beer / wine. The most wine like beer I’ve ever had. Sensational aroma with complexity and debth that has to be tasted. Expensive as can be, yes. But undoubitly a great beer. I have a bottle that I’ll age about 10 years. This is a killer beer.

Pours to a very dark red body that appears black. A very silken creamy tan head. Nice dense lacing. The aroma is creamy milk chocolate truffles with a nice peaty Scotch back. The aroma was compared to my Highland Park 15 Scotch but that’s super floral pears but this is surprisingly peaty. The flavor is distinctly Scotch with all the peat. Rich but slick malts. The Scotch adds flavor complexity but no alcohol is noticed. Creamy and smooth and clean. Subtle and complex.