Innis & Gunn Limited Edition Oak Aged Beer (Bottle)

Formerly brewed at Belhaven (Greene King)
Style: English Strong Ale
Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland

Édition 2006. Robe rouge très claire surmontée d’une mousse beige qui s’estompe. Arômes de chêne et d’alcool. Saveurs astringeantes de chêne, de houblon épicé et de citron.

Tasted in Toronto. Obtained from LCBO. Once I handed them the cash, they literally gave me the product. Small bottle - shame. Pours a deep reddish brown, medium white and sustained head. Tasted in Pint glass. Aroma is smoky, deep and complex. Some vanilla or general sweetness. It almost smells like it was filled into 100 hand selected ‘first fill’ bourbon casks to begin 107 days of unique character transformation Wow. Flavour is also smoky, bacon, meat hanging on hook, carcass rotting in the bowels of time immemorial and with no bitter aftertaste! Give me a f?&*@# break. Limited Edition - my great big nasty pussy hairy ass.

Bottle, LCBO, fancy gift carton and all. Brown, huge foamy head. Whiskey aroma - not much else besides a little malt. Foamy mouthfeel. Whiskey taste, thin body, some earthy bitterness. One dimensional. You simply must have more body if you’re going to do the oak aged thing guys. Massively disappointing, especially given the price tag and presentation.

330ml bottle from Waitrose. Poured a rich reddish chestnut with an off-white head; clear aroma of bourbon whiskey; sweet and creamy in the mouth, with whiskey still present; leading to a smooth creamy aftertaste which is warming and has traces of vanilla and orange. Much more complex than the standard Innis & Gunn.

A Mes rate: 33cl bottle from Waitrose. Better than the standard but nothing overly special. 2006 bottle is definitely darker and slightly more refined than I remember. Obvious whiskey notes to it and bags of malt. Slight caramel too.

Bottle from LCBO, Brown body with a small off white head that fades leaving decent amount of brewers lace on the glass. Woody oak dominates the aroma, and I am not appreciating this fact. Light caramel malt has a woody astringency to it, swee malt. More depth than I am describing but it is very difficult to get at the nuances beyond the in your face nature of the barrel. Might be decent not oak aged? Average palate. A decent beer likely ruined by the barrel in my opinion.

Rating #1000. I’ll commemerate this rating to a few people who have helped a long the way. I’d like to thank Dougshoemaker first and foremost, for without his mentioning of ratebeer to me, and his offering of so many beers and information, I would have never been involved in the hobby. Thanks goes out to Joey Capps for inviting me to my first tasting and getting me blitzed off westy and rochefort when I had about 20 ratings. Thanks to thebeercellar2 for trading me first, when I had no trades under my belt. Thanks goes out to MDS for sharing so many a good beer with me, it’s hard to remember how many we’ve had. I’d like to thank Hyde for sharing his everlasting brewing information with me, so that I might understand beer structure better. Thanks goes out to everyone I have traded with, from Immy in mid east, Ross in the South, Beer Mountie in the far atlantic east, Oakes out west, Styles in Michigan, and Philip in the mid-west, and to the T.O crew (Harry, Jeff, Paul, Greg), and to the boys in buffalo (rudy, tim) just to name a few. Thanks to the admins for all of their hard work, and finally a big thanks to every member of this community for making it what it is. Here’s to another 1000! As for this beer, it pours dark mahogony. Head is gently frothed, and leaves good spider web lacing. Upfront aromas of milk chocolate and oak, with vanilla bean, toasty bread and caramel malts. The hops are subdued, but they are here, and there’s a slight lactic presence to the aroma as well. ALl in all, very nice. The flavour is a muted form of the aroma components, and the roasted/tpoasty malts really come through. A touch of chocolate and a spash of whisky. Nice subtle hop bite enters the finish with just a tad of milk. Very well rounded, and a nice treat to see at the LCBO. Cheers!

Effervescent, dark amber body with red hue and with creamy off-white head that leaves behind generous lacing from start to finish. Oak, whiskey, butter and nuts to the nose which delivers on its promise on the tastebuds. Tastes much like a fine scotch only it has more of a dessert like quality to it and is very easy to enjoy. Flavors of oak, barley malt, butter, cream in the aftertaste. The palate is creamy, rich and leaves you wanting more. I could never get tired of Innis & Gunn offerings.