Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Special Reserve

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

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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Thanks again to Brock_Landers for this one. Wonderful little beer. Pours a deep brown without a head to speak of. Smells of whisk(e)y, smoked wood chips, caramel and toffee. Big on the alcohol. Sweet notes up front of caramel, bourbon, and chocolate. It kind of tastes like one of those Kahlua chocolates you find at the liquor store counter around the holidays. Feels like engine oil on the palate (how appropriate), almost a cloying syrupy taste that you’d expect from something with the name Old Engine Oil. Great beer. I’ll definitely be enjoying this one again.

11.2oz bottle that I am pretty sure is a 2004. Pours black and still, not overly thick in body and I had to stop pouring with a couple of fingers left to keep quite a few chunks out of my glass. Caramel, wheat bread, leather, tobacco, wet cardboard, hints of peat and raisins. Very faint signs of carbonation and a body that is lighter for the appearence yet has a syurpy feel. Cola, wet cardboard, peat, caramel, boozey oak, prune with an aspartame finish. Don’t think my neglecting this one for so long improved it in any way.

Bottled in 2002. Pour is deep still brown with a faint purple tint to it. No head, this is still now. Aroma is really really rich and velvety with tons of dark fruit, raisin, plum, light spice, brown sugar, light chocolate, and very little if any oxidation. Flavor is crazy sweet up front with a hint of tartness that follows. Then notes of dark fruit slip in quickly before a long lightly smoky coffee finish. Bitter chocolate and coffee linger for a long time. Very interesting and quite complex. But weird.

Bottle. Has an imperial stout flavor to it. Pours black with tan head. Nose of vanilla, wood, chocolate and roasted malts. Taste of roasted malts, whiskey, chocolate and vanilla.

11.2oz bottle from Sam’s, Durham. This bottle must be from 2006 or 2007. I’ve been staring at it for so long I’d almost forgotten it was an option. Still holds up quite well though. Nose is very mellowed and chocolatey. Mouthfeel is, predictably, a bit on the thin side at this point, but even this sign of age and the oxidation that’s present in the flavor don’t spoil the beer. Nice warming chocolate and bourbon flavors, a solid and unpretentious brew.

Darkbrown beer, beige very small head. Smells like caramel and coffee. Tastes like coffee grit with a very slight hint of caramel.

Bottle 12fl.oz.
[ Courtesy of Summer Secret Santa ]. Clear dark red brown color with a average to large, creamy, good lacing, mostly lasting, light brown to beige head. Aroma is light heavy malty, dark roasted, burnt, caramel, chocolate, smoke and vanilla notes. Flavor is heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft, finish feel is light alcoholic - whisky. [20091113]

33 cL bottle. Pours dark brown to black with a huge and chocolate brown head. Aroma is chocolate, vanilla and wooden notes to a strong malt base. Sweet, chocolate and vanilla wooden flavoured. Light roasted bitter to acidic note coming through. Rather dry and hardroasted malt flavoured. Lingering acidic roasted malt finish with a light whiskey alcohol note.

Bottle, 8.0%. Good aroma, roasted coffee, some cream. Black colour, red shine. Small stable brown head. The flavour is very creamy with a good coffee note, some sweetness. Good alcohol note in the finish to balance the flavour and sweetness.

Sample from 11.2 oz. bottle. Pours dark brown with a small tan head. The aroma has rich dark chocolate, whiskey, wood, and port wine. The flavor has a strong alcohol component that works well with the roasted malts, chocolate, and wood. Pretty smooth and full bodied. I enjoy this quite a bit more than the Brewdog beers because this still resembles a beer. The whiskey can be strong, but when balanced with the other flavors it makes for a nice beer.

Pours pitch black with very faint mahogany edges when held to a light source and a 1.5 finger foamy coffee-colored head that slowly fades into a lasting ring. Minimal lacing. Aroma has a prominent whiskey presence but there is a somewhat nice balance of roasted coffee and chocolate maltiness. Slightly toasty with some toffee and hazelnut notes but again, mostly whiskey. Whiskey dominates the flavor up front followed by some sweet roasted chocolate malt, toffee, coffee bean, some more oaky vanilla whiskey and a dry finish. The alcohol presence is very prominent, mostly from the whiskey but the heat is pretty well masked making it quite drinkable.