Beer #7 Harviestoun "Ola Dubh" Special Reserve 16 year

As promised we return to Scotland and to Harviestoun brewery www.harviestoun.com to talk about Ola Dubh again, if you haven't read my post about the 12 year, take a second and skip back to Beer # 2 and check it out first. Go ahead... I'll wait...

Got it?

OK. Here we go.

Just a refresher in case you didn't want to skip back... (cause I know you didn't... shame)

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!

This bottle is numbered # 23258 and bears a production date of August 2010. So three months in the bottle.

Once again we have the dark brown almost black colour with a thin tan coloured head made up of small bubbles. The lacing is restricted to small "polka dots" all over the inside of the glass. On the nose we have a deep charred, high alcohol smell with undertones of molasses, toffee and black licorice. The nose is not dissimilar to dark rum.

The first taste gives us smoke but not as much as the 12 year. The lightness of the beer is counter intuitive to the darkness of the colour. Very refined whisky and molasses finish with the light scent of smoke hanging in the air like a distant woodstove on a cold winter's night. Aeration brings out  unrefined brown sugar licorice and a hint of cream (malo-lactic fermentation from the wood perhaps?)

Taste: Exceptional
Cost: Pass (despite the $6.95 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

Same rating as the 12 year both fantastic beers a must try while they are here!

Cheers
CJT