Name: Ola Dubh Special Reserve 12Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 8.0%
Serving: 330ml bottle
Brewery: Harviestoun Brewery
Location: Alva, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, UK
Weblink: Harviestoun Ola Dubh
Well... it's been a while. How are you? Been keeping well? Sorry for the big paws, but us polar bears are like that. Anyway, I've had quite a few good beers lately and though "now, if only I had somewhere that I could make a note of this". Why did I start this blog after all?
On to the beer in hand. In glass? In tummy? Well, all are true. This beer's name apparently means "black oil". I'll take their word for it as I don't speak Gaelic, but if so then it is terribly apt. The beer pours very treacly and thick, and I had to abuse it a little to produce any decent head. Once formed, however, the head was a beautifully thick and creamy layer of fine foam that lasted and lasted and lasted. On the nose it does smell frighteningly alcoholic, with a sharp tang of hard liquor and wood. Fortunately, this isn't the way it tastes. The beer comes across as a very well put together Imperial Stout; deep, thick and even across the mouth, with a rich malt and chocolate flavour accented by notes of tobacco and caramel. However, towards the back of the mouth this beer starts to take on another character, as peat and smoke start to power their way through, and as the beer leaves your mouth you end with an unmistakably whisky afterglow.
I did think that the whole "aged in whisky barrels" schtick was just marketing hype, but it really is there. This beer really does leave you with the feeling that about ten minutes ago you were enjoying a beautiful, smooth, aged single malt whisky. You really wouldn't want to drink more than one of these in an evening, and to be honest I found it somewhat over sweet as I like my stouts a bit more bitter, but as a sipping beer to enjoy curled up on the sofa it is up there among the best.
