J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin)

Poured a clear orange-copper color with a thin off-white head. Looks thick and oily with nice legs. Aroma is full of the Lagavulin. A good bit of smoke and peat. Some whiskey and alcohol. Sweet malt hides underneath. Flavors starts with caramel malt sweetness and turns peaty and smokey. Finishes with some sweetness and bitterness twisted together. Very warming but overall alcohol flavor is hidden well. 8/4/6/4/14

1998 Wooden Cask Release: This blew away the bottled version. Poured a clear very dark chestnut color with no head. The aroma was sweet and smokey. Notes of vanilla, peat, whiskey, dried dark fruits, chocolate and brown sugar. The flavor was still very sweet with nice complex notes of aged malt, vanilla, dark fruits, whiskey, and smoke. Bitter semi-dry finish. Silky and creamy mouthfeel. Full bodied. I can’t believe how big this beer still is. It will last forever. Very warming.

Amber color with no real head. Aroma is strong sweetness and alcohol. Flavor is carmel sweetness and maple syrup. Very easy to drink for the big 11.5%.

this was a shot of whiskey - wasn’t like a beer at all. It wasn’t good at all. To bitter and to strong

Up til this one, this JW Lees harves ale collection has been quite pleasent, then comes this junk. Aroma not so bad to start out, caramel, malts, pretty sweet. Taste is too sweet, with a funky wine like flavor. This was a very expensive drainpour.

Poured an almost still clear (clear? this is filtered?) amber with a small semi-creamy off-white head. Aroma of caramel, cherries, brown sugar, red wine, whiskey, peppery alcohol. Flavor is sweet and strong with intense notes of smokey maple syrup, grapes, apples with a sweet alcoholic finish. The sweetness and smoke are almost too much, which is saying something for me, because I prefer sweeter barley wines. Maybe because the alcohol is still hot, the sweetness just seems slightly unbalanced. Of course, I’m not sitting here saying I don’t enjoy the beer, because I do. Just not as smooth as the 1997 regular Harvest Ale I enjoyed some time ago.

A sweet winelike aroma is present in Lagavulin. The color is a deep golden with no head. The flavor of alcohol is clearly present along with a winelike sweetness.

Hopefully the one I bought to age turns out better. A fine smelling barley wine, like they all are, and full of alcohol. Pretty headless, but a good cloudy color. First taste is very very sweet. Sugar and molasses, with the wood obvious and maybe the whiskey. A good brew, but too sugary to be truly great.

Bottle. Very sweet aroma/flavour. Theres a fair bit going on here, but silks right, it does come across as a bit stale and sticky. Fairly straight forward sticky raisin, and smoky malt characters. Hints of sweaty socks, rubber and even some garbage juice in the finish. I actually prefer the regulat Harvest Ale to this one, which is a surprise, coz i’m partial to a bit of Lagavulin every now and then. This was dissapointing.