Harviestoun Ola Dubh (30 Year Old)

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

Bottle # 04582/Sept 2007. Aroma of malt caramel and nuts. Black body with decent head. Flavor of caramel sweetness and slight chocolate cream along with the whiskey wood. Smooth on the palate and good session beer that leaves mild sweetness and wood for an aftertaste. Good brew glad was able to try it.

This smells like a nice stout. This it crazy. It alternates between thick and thin. Sweet and with an initial bite that mellows out. This is the hoppiest of the three oddly. Excellent.

330cL bottle, courtesy of wickedpete. Thanks, Pete! Pours a murky, dark oily color; thin, light-brown head with patchy, fine-bubbled lacing. A clearer expression of olives and single malt and chocolate in the aroma than the younger vintages; still, not overly exceptional or complimentary. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: light carbonation; soft scotch presence, still retaining the dark chocolate and nougat notes of the original; again, scotch doesn’t do a whole lot here; not a huge difference between the three casks, and certainly not enough to justify the varying prices. Lengthy finish, showing dark chocolate and cocoa and ash; some residual peat and moss.

A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip creates a three finger thick, nicely browned, concentrated tan colored head. The beer is quite dark, in fact it is just about black in its opaqueness but does show a hint of ruby to it around the edges it held up directly to the light. The Whisky is noticeable in the aroma as I pour this (spicy and boozy), but really starts to shine once I focus on the nose. A rich, peat driven, salty, smokiness broods with deeply roasted malts that provide a burnt smokiness of their own as well as espresso like roast character. The peat-smoke combines with the sweeter side of the malt aromas to give this an intense, focused, rich, concentrated, dark malt aroma. The barrel is certainly the dominant note in the aroma, but I like the dimension that the peat-reek brings to this beer.

Sweet malt notes of burnt caramel up front meld into a smoky, salty peat character that continues to carry a bit of malt sweetness through to a finish that takes on a burnt grain note that seems to get just a touch of a burnt vegetal note. Dusty cocoa flavors play quite a prominent role up front, but then this morphs into a rich mix of concentrated dark malt and peat smoke. I like how the peat smoke mixes with the roasted grain character in the finish; flavors of smoky, roasted coffee beans, . By American Stout standards this has a very light roast character, this is definitely a good thing in my book as it allows for other complexities to come through. Underneath the peat there is some dark fruit notes that struggle to be noticed at times, but definitely contribute with flavors reminiscent dried prunes and dried figs that have been left under the broiler long enough to lightly char. The heft of this beer is not overly heavy, nor is it thin, but it might help if it had a touch more richness to it; it does have enough heft to allow this to coat the palate as it facilitates the sipping quality of this brew.

The flavor is much more balanced between Barrel influences and the base beer than the aroma is, though I would still say that the peat might be the most distinct part of this beer (though the dark grain is really right up there).

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Bottle... Pours black with a thin body and a weak head. Aroma is coppery chocolate coated with weak Avery Beast brown sugar and whisky. Flavor is upfront chalky oak with bits of peaty earth and a whisky drip finish. Average mouthfeel. Good, but flavors seem off. Not sure how much influence the age of the wood has but based on my ratings, I say the younger the wood the better in this case.

Bottle from the Libation Station in Johnson City, TN. Pours an oily black color with a moderate fizzy brown head. Fair head retention and lacing. Nice rich malty aroma with notes of caramel, smoke, leather, coconut, vanilla, whisky. Taste is smoke, leather, chocolate, vanilla, toffee and a bitter hop finish. Smooth. Medium bodied.

I’m not sure if there’s a whole lot of difference in the three beers because I didn’t get the 30 year at the same time I tasted the other two back to back. There is a nice aroma of high quality dark chocolate, like the high percentage cacao stuff that tastes slightly winey, and dark berries. The whisky is strong in the aroma, but not too overpowering for the beer. Enjoyable.

from liar’s club. black with a brown head. Chocolate porter aroma. Great and well balanced taste between the chocolate and scotch. Definately the best of the three.