J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin)

Brewed by J.W. Lees
Style: Barley Wine
Middleton Junction, England

Bottle brewed in 2005. Brilliant copper color with lots of tiny bubbles. No discernible head. Aroma is sweet malt affected by significant smoke. Medium body with very mild carbonation. Flavor is sweet, smoky, and arguably a tinge woody. There’s a lot going on. Smoke. Wood. Rubber? Sugar. Caramel. Toffee. Where does it end? Should be a sipper, but it goes down incredibly well. Finish definitely develops smoke. Just really good. Not dry in the finish, but the sweetness is tolerable.

Bottle. [After party @ Papsoe, thanks buddy] Average creamy beige head that mostly diminished. Spare lacework. Light cloudy amber color. Aroma of mild whiskey, dried fruit, alcohol and wood like notes. Over the palate came sugary sweet notes with mild smoke and toffee, nutty notes. Full bodied with a soft carbonation and thick alcoholic texture. Heavy sweet flavor with mild bitterness. Light smoky heavy sweet woody and fruity finish. Properly the most balanced of the 4. 8 / 4 / 8 / 4 / 17

9.3 oz. bottle brewed in 2003. Clear amber beer in my snifter with only the lightest of whisp for a head. Nose has noticable alcohol and a syrup sweetness. This is a very sweet beer. Too sweet for my tastes. There is some whiskey, oak, vanilla, and a hint of smoke. It is just so overpowered by the thick, cloying butterscotch sweetness that the other flavors don’t stand a chance. The alcohol is very noticable and starts to burn on the tongue as the beer warms. A very odd beer actually.

great as a port. not so great when re-created as a beer. looks and tastes so much like a fine 15 year old port that to describe it further would be disingenuious of me. buttery velvety and caramel so smooth and good. well refined alcohol. from the cask at mugs ale house "happy Fathers day Poppa wherever you are"!

Had it out of old british pin at Uber Tavern Seattle 6-9-08. Strong scotch nose and full mouth flavor, smell like scotch and tatses like it all the way down. Not as sweet as the regular harvest ale but still has strong butterscotch and candy like flavor. Damn good beer!!!!!!!

275ml bottle. Pours light brown with orange highlights, slightly hazy, no head. Some floaters. Smells sweet and plenty boozy, hints of wood. Tastes sweet and thick with a strong alcohol flavor throughout. The sweetness makes the alcohol flavors bearable though, a little wood on the finish. I thought I was going to hate this beer but it is really pretty tasty, a sipper though. Thick, syrupy sweet body, virtually no carbonation.

This one needs a few years I’m afraid. The scent is fantastic with lots of smoke and sweet malt flavors. The truly remarkable thing about this beer is that it is so two faced at the front of the tongue it tastes almost exactly like the Whisky smoky peaty and a little salty, however the beer takes a remarkably sweet character. In fact the beer becomes so malty sweet that it becomes unpleasant. From everything I’ve read about these Harvest ales, they loose this sweetness over the years, I’ll be very excited to see that happen to my other bottle.

From unclemattie via trade. Thank you! 2004 bottle. The pour is an ever so slightly cloudy brown with lighter bits of copper and ruby highlights. A compact little off-white head popped up and then was gone in a flash. No real lacing. The aroma was peat, smoke, whiskey, light hints of floral and earth. Also plenty of molasses and caramel. The flavor was as expected heavy on the molasses and caramel but cut nicely with the peat, smoke and faint trace of floral and spicy hops. Very thick mouthfeel. Nice, but a bit the finish lingered a bit too long. A nice diversion and I’m very appreciative that I got to try it. Not an everyday drink for sure.