Ola Dubh - 30 Year Old Special Reserve
Harviestoun in Alva, Clackmannanshire, Scotland 🏴
Traditional Beer - Old Ale Regular|
Score
7.90
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We make Ola Dubh 30 by taking our Old Engine Oil (amped up to 10.5%) and aging it for up to 6 months in casks that previously held Highland Park’s phenomenal 30 Year Old single malt whisky.
Ola Dubh (pronounced ‘ola-doo’ and Gaelic for ‘black oil’) was conceived in 2007. It was the first ale to be matured in whisky barrels from a named distillery and, with traceable casks and numbered bottles, it is a beer with real provenance.
This amazing brew has been aged in selected oak casks formerly used to mature Highland Park 30 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, adding complementary whisky notes to our chocolatey, bittersweet beer.
Ola Dubh 30 pours deep brown with a burgundy flush and a head the colour of milled oatmeal. On the nose it has gently-finessed top notes of fresh heather and honey, subtly toasted malts and vanilla with balancing hints of red fruits and a distant, beguiling smoke. The flavour has elegantly-subtle developing wine-like notes; from bitter chocolate and espresso beans into to a sustained, oaked conclusion. Extended, oaky finish with pine resin, juniper, perfumed honey and traces of peat.
HOPS: Galena, East Kent Goldings, Fuggles
MALTS: Roast barley, oats
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Cask at the White Horse Old Ale Festival, 19/11/15. Black with a moderate tan head of bubbles. Nose is rich chocolate, spice, tannins, dark fruit shreds, smoke, good whisky vibes, earthy. Taste comprises light peated malt, spice, dark malts, light charr, wooded notes, chocolate, raisens, toffee fudge. Full bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close with a good boost. Solid well balanced whisky olde.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9.5
Cask, hand-pull at WHOAF 2015. It pours jet black with a tiny, bubbly tan head. The nose is so rich, sweet, oily, stewed dark fruits, fruit cake, eccles cake, vanilla, cherry bakewell, sweet roast, juicy whisky, heather honey and light smoked peat. The taste is slick, oily, unctuous, warming alcohol, eccles cake, earthy roast, charred wood, Neapolitan ice-cream, liquorice, rich roast, mocha, stewed strawberries, umami, rocky road, burnt toast and a touch of peppery spice with a dry, warming finish. Full body and fine carbonation. Slick mouth-feel. Staggeringly brilliant, great depth and yet somehow highly drinkability. Perfect for a whisky and beer lover. Exceptional.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
On cask at Winstons. Appearance - opaque black with a lovely fawn head. Nose - wood, wood spice and whisky against a dark chocolate backdrop. Taste - deep dark chocolate, boozy edge. A hint of liquorice or molasses. Palate - full bodied with a rich creamy texture and a long rich finish. Overall - the beer just about holds the huge whisky influence.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Cask at winstons. Pours jet black with a thin tan head. Strong whisky and chocolate aromas. Taste is liquorice, tar, whisky, liqueur chocolates. Rich, oily texture. Long boozy, chewy finish.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle:Almost black, almost no head; wood and vanilla detectable in the nose, molasses and dried fruits as well; moderate to solid sweet-bitter flavour, full bodied and smooth; lingering sweet-bitter finish of leather, sweet caramel. molasses and dried fruits, followed by a malty bitterness. Easy drinking thirst-quencher...
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Keg at the Hanging Bat. Chocolate and coconut on nose. Taste is silky sweet chocolate, liquorice, coconut, smooth whisky.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
Sampled @ Finest Spirits and Beer Convention Bochum 2014: Sehr dunkelbraunes Bier, kein Schaum. Geruch mild holzig, schokoladig, etwas Whiskey. Geschmack torfig, röstmalzig, schokoladig, leicht alkoholisch.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Bottle. Pours near black with a chocolate brown chocolate head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has strong whiskey with chocolate and toffee forming a strong backbone. Flavor has nice combination of bitter chocolate, toffee, caramel and whiskey.