J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin)

2004. Clear amber. Insignificant off white head. Looks very nice. Fuckin intense aroma of smoke, peat, and malt. I should mention that Lagavulin is one of my favorite whiskies. It’s smokin. Flavor of the brew is less smoke and more malt and peat, much sweeter than expected by the aroma. Full, syrupy body. Light carbonation, very heavy brew. Flavor and palate were a let down after the awesome aroma, still pretty good. Would pair nice with a fine cigar. I’d like to try one of these about 10 years from now.

This bottled brew from 2003 poured a small sized head of frothy fine to large sized mostly diminishing off-white colored bubbles that left behind a fair lacing. The body contained average carbonation, was transparent and caramel brown in color. Its aroma contained notes of mild whisky comes though from the cask . Its mouth feel is very tingly strongly vinous with a palate and a aftertaste. Its flavor contained very noticible alcohol very strong caramel malt whisky notes. Very stong with lots of noticible whisky in it.

smells like wild turkey and coke, but without much coke. pours a ruddy brown with a cream head. scothc notes are there in the nose too. this is rough. whiskey smokey flavor that bites. raIsin chocolate pine flavors are there. alcohol dry finish. a nice sipper that really opens up as it warms. gets smoother and the whiskey that was forefront melds a bit better. luscious sweetness emerges. a vanilla quality emerges to say hi and brings it’s friend toffee. yummy. i’ve done a 180 on this. at first taste i did not like it and thought, "oh christwagons here we go with another failed barrel aged beer welcome to 1.8 territory." but no, this is good, real good.

Bottled 2003 Vintage; Tasted December 11, 2005: Copper color with no head. Sweet aroma of grains and malt, coupled with a peat hit. Take a sip... holy crap... did somebody pour my Lagavulin 16 into my JW Harvest? The sweet malt of an English barley wine is still there, but man does the Lag overpower it. Lagavulin happens to be my favorite Scotch, but it needs to balance and round out the beer, not kill it.

Burnt Orange Coloring with No Head. If You’re in the Same Room as This, You Know EXACTLY what is Being Sampled. The Peaty Smoke Aroma is an Explosion That is Completely Devastating....in a Very Good Way if You Like Islay Malts..Otherwise This One is Probably Too Harsh. This Extremely Strong Aroma Carries Right into the Flavor and is the Dominate Presence of the Entire Tasting Experience. It Really Tends to Overwhelm the Barley Wine All Together but One Might Argue that It Takes a Solidily Great Barley Wine to Hoist Up Such Cask Finished Flavors in the First Place. Overall Quite Amazing for a Fan of Single Malt Whisky and Beer.

Bottle (courtesy Duff) at St Albans Beer Festival, October 2005. Silk seems to have got in all the ranting before me so I’ll largely confine myself to saying this is an ill-judged, gimmicky nonsense of a beer. Reddish colour. Medicinal, phenolic, loads of burnt rubber in the aroma. I love Lagavulin, but the combination here does nothing for either component and the integration is not harmonious at all.. Very sweet, with an unpleasant alcohol burn. Crude and borderline unpleasant. Not my thing at all. Its giving me indigestion.

Bronzed peach. Retentive collar of foam takes shape as tiny bubbles struggle to find the surface. Heavily aromatic notes of peat smoke, honey, black pepper, and fresh cut wood. Slightly crunchy bubbles gently scrub the palate. Syrupy consistency. Lagavulin immediately inundates the palate with a peat-smoke blanket and tangy medicinal twinge. Vivid woodiness briefly underlines the fat malt structure, though the malt definition slowly succumbs to the heightening sweetness. Alcohol shows no “off” flavors, admittedly, and does offer a glimpse of brightness. But it’s all downhill from there, as the cloying sweetness eventually overrides everything. Finishes smoky and salty with peat, but mostly mushy and under-attenuated with an unrelenting blast of melted rubber and medicine. How can something with such a promising nose be so offensive in all other aspects? Three ounces of this was too much.

musky and port like though not sweet. an excellent sipping brew in place of port, sherry or other. a bit overpowering with a meal but as a lead in or after it’s on the mark.