Beer # 2 Harviestoun "Ola Dubh" Special Reserve 12 year

Welcome back sports fans, I had a rare treat today. I went into the LCBO to pick something up to review for tonight's blog and I had two pleasant surprises. The first was the Holiday edition of the LCBO Magazine "Food and Drink," which is quite literally the best foodie magazine going and even better... it's free. The second was a shelf of interesting beers from Harviestoun. www.harviestoun.com Now many of you have probably not heard of this brewery from Scotland let alone tasted one of their beers, however, you should take steps to correct that. Harviestoun is that brewery everyone wants to go to because they bend the rules. They "Play" with their beer, never satisfied they try all sorts of things with their beer and keep trying until they get things right.

Enter Ola Dubh which the tag hanging from the bottle tells me means "Black Oil" It is a version of one of their standard dark beers "Old Engine Oil" that has been aged in casks. Not just any old casks though... Scotch whisky casks. Highland Park to be exact. The bottle I got today comes from the 12 year old series. Each bottle is brewed in small batches and then aged in 12 year old Highland park whisky barrels. The end result is numbered and dated. There is also a 16, 18, 30, and yes Virginia, a FORTY YEAR OLD series! All of which My LCBO is carrying right now! (OH JOY!) I will temporarily zip off to bloggers's heaven for a few minutes! Be right back!


The bottle I received today bears a bottling date of February 2010 and a number of 12922.


At the first pour we are looking at a dark brown almost black beer with a dark tan head. Weighing in at 8% ABV this is a serious beer. Going in for the nose you find all things warm and toasty charred wood, deep roasted malts, burnt caramel, black licorice hint of vanilla, and a hint of peat offered up by the whisky barrels. First sip reminiscent of a "rauchbier" (a German brew made with malt dried over an open fire to impart a smoky flavour to the beer) smoky and peaty. The dark colour misconstrues the flavour. Light in body, as is often is the case in modern dark beers. Ola Dubh is easy drinking with a palate reminiscent of a fine whisky; salt and oil and peat finishing with a mild bitterness that lingers like the smoke of fine cigar. Exhaling, brings the warmth and fire of the whisky through the beer.

My impressions... well what can one say? This beer speaks volumes there is a lot going on when you sip, and as the flavours wash over my tongue I discover more and more, smoky, spicy, floral. Unfortunately, the complexity of the beer and the 8% are too much to reach for more than one bottle a night. So the re-order quotient is low, but definitely worth picking up one for that night in in front of the fire cuddled up to someone you love.

Overall results: (Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional)

Taste: Exceptional
Cost: Pass (despite the $5.95 entry fee for the 333ml bottle surprisingly worth it!)
Colour: Exceptional
Beer Style: Exceptional
Re-order: Pass (with above caveat! drink with caution! savour one a night and give your palate a rest!)
Experience: Exceptional

One note on experience... Unlike most rauchbiers which can be as overwhelming as chewing on a campfire this mild and peaty smoke is very appealing. If sipped one can imagine the whisky cask interacting with the aged beer imparting the warm aromas, this beer has character and is not afraid to show it. Drinking it is truly an experience so it gets top marks.

Overall: another great beer from the "lads' at Harviestoun. I would advise running out and getting a bottle or two while they are still here as the bottlings are very limited.

CJT