J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin)

Formerly brewed at J.W. Lees
Style: Barley Wine
Manchester, England

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Draught @ Belmont station, Portland.
Pours clear copper color with minimal head. Aroma of strong whiskey, wood, vanilla and toffee. Flavor of peat, toffee, vanilla and sugar. A bit too dominating whiskey flavor.
4224

A - Pours a cloudy brown-orange with a bit of bubbly white head. The head fades down quickly leaving behind only a touch of lace. S - Aroma is a mix of oak and whisky with lots of caramelized malts, other dark caramel malts, dark fruits, brown sugar, some peat and smoke, a bit of citrus fruit, and some booze. T - Starts off with a mix of peat and oak with some sweet caramelized malts, raisins, other dark fruits, and some light citrus hops. Through the middle, some smoke and more oak comes through with some more caramel malts and some molasses. The finish is a mix of rich caramelized and caramel malts with some dark fruit, peat, oak, smoke, brown sugar, and booze. M - Medium-full bodied with mild carbonation. Feels smooth with a warming, sweet, and lightly smoky finish. D - Very drinkable. The whisky blends really nicely with the rich bold barleywine base. Nicely complex.

Lovely stuff. 2008 bottle. The whisky pairs much better with this than the overly sweet (but still lovely) calvados version. Not as peaty, as I was expecting, this had a smooth, ever so slightly smoky zeal to it. Lots of big apricot, cherries, thick bready dough, sweet toffee. Thick though not intense body. Very smooth. Just exactly how I want a BW to be.

Cask poured during Philly Beer Week. Muddy brown color with a thin head. Complex aroma. Slightly hoppy and sweet with obvious barrel aged qualities. Even more pronounced in the flavor. Smooth whiskey taste that quickly becomes charred and smokey. Thick and heavy on the palate. I can see this is a well made beer but I’ve never been a fan of smokey beers.

Draft from a firkin in 2011 at Eulogy. Big peaty notes wafting up. The whisky seems to envelope the beer. Complex sweet malty oaky goodness. Thick body. High ABV is muted, but unforgiving. Wonderful.

2007 vintage. Shared this bottle, so just tried a few ounces of it. Pour is deep brown with minimal to no head. Some suspended sediment for a few minutes, then this settles out toward the bottom of the glass. Aroma is relatively smokey, and then the flavor is powerfully smoky--reminiscent of barbeque sauce. This is a barrel-aged beer that absolutely delivers on imparting actual barrel notes--you can’t miss the whisky flavor of this beer. Alcohol is pretty hidden even at this strength. A great sipping beer and something completely different. Really enjoyed this one.

1st February 2010
Cloudy dark amber beer. Malt and sherry on the nose. Soft and semi dry palate. Sweet and sour malt perfectly balanced with nice sherry notes and then well balanced smoky whisky coming through. Finishes sweet with smoky whisky. Warming finish. Another superbly joined up Barrel Aged beer from JW Lees. But also a big 2 fingers to JW Lees for not making this available in the UK.

Cask. Pours hazy amber with average, fizzy white head; short retention and no lacing. Aroma is sour fruit, bread malt, grassy hops, woody notes, and grapefruit. Flavor is sweet malt with balancing bitter hops and fruit notes towards the end; some barrel undertones and a dry finish. Medium/full body, low carbonation, and high warmth.

2005 edition. Shipped to me by my wife on a trip to Portland. +++ Sampled from a 9.3 oz brown bottle this beer poured a medium brown color with a trace soapy tan head that faded instantly and left no lacing. The aroma was a lovely mix of toasted caramel, toffee, golden raisins, hints of pineapple, honey and nut and followed by more toffee. The flavor was amazingly different from the nose dominated by wood smoke and bacon with undertones of honey and toffee. The finish was long with wood smoke and bacon lingering. Full bodied and syrupy but undercarbonated. Amazing nose but disappointing flavor.

Clear pale yellow-orange pour with a thin tan head. Sweet aroma with honey and raisin notes. Toasted malt with nutty notes. Very sweet malty flavor. Notes of honey with a bitter moderately hoppy finsih. Smoky whisky in the finish that lingers