Orkney Brewery (Sinclair Breweries) Dark Island Reserve

Dark Island Reserve

 

Orkney Brewery (Sinclair Breweries) in Stromness, Orkney, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

  Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy Regular
Score
7.71
ABV: 10.0% IBU: - Ticks: 144
Dark Island reserve is a rich strong Orcadian Ale. After a gentle fermentation at our brewery, the beer is finished in old oak casks formerly used to mature fine scotch malt whisky. This unhurried process creates a timeless classic full of fruit, spice, oak and roast malt flavours.
 

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7/10
Bottle. Sweet caramel, thick chocolatey.
Tried from Bottle on 23 Nov 2013 at 16:08

6.3/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 4 Overall 7
Dieses in Whiskeyfässern gelagerte Bier fand ich gar nicht übel, obwohl isch solche Getränke aufgrund ihrer Holzigkeit und Stärke normalerweise nicht mag. Aber hier hat man es mit der Lagerung nicht übertrieben und so sond eben jene Aromen nur als leichter Hintergrund wahrnehmbar und das Bier bleibt im Zentrum.
Tried from Bottle on 12 Oct 2013 at 05:58

7.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 8.5
Bottle - 2011 - Sweet dark fruits, oak, roasted malts and some sweet whisky notes. Inky black with a thin brown head. Sweet dark molasses and fig. Versus the regular there is alot of oak and sweetness, which although nice it overwhelms the nice complexity of the original.
Tried from Bottle on 04 Oct 2013 at 23:30

7.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
Dark brown to black colour, minimal head. Aroma of raisins, caramel, dried fruits, light whisky. Sherry flavour, quite young sherry, sweet caramel, sweet dried fruits. Finish sherry, Manzanilla sherry, malts, quite alcoholic. Nice.
(From 75cL bottle @ RBBSG II, Gent 2013. Courtesy of BelgBeerGeek. Thanks for sharing, Vincent!)
Tried from Bottle on 10 Sep 2013 at 14:50

8.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Bottle brought home from Scotland by a friend. Almost black with a lasting light brown head. Aroma is sweet, roasted malt, liquorice, dried fruit, wood and whisky. Flavor is very sweet and rather bitter. Dry and roasted rather bitter finish. Oily. More imperial stout than barley wine. 150813
Tried from Bottle on 15 Aug 2013 at 09:45

6.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 7
Sampled from bottle @ RBBSG II. Opaque very dark brown color, small beige head. Smell malts, whiskey, slightly vanilla. Taste malts, slightly sweet but also some bitter, vanilla, whiskey. Oily texture, medium body, medium carbonation.
Tried from Bottle on 13 Aug 2013 at 13:49

9.3/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 9 Flavor 9 Texture 10 Overall 10
Courtesy of BelgBeerGeek. Thx! 75 cl. swing-top bottle sampled @ RBBSG II. 2008 Vintage. Blackish to light brown, no head. Nose is sweet alcoholic, slightly vinous, pale, very sweet brown sugar mixed with alcohol, red grapes, raisins, roasted malt, some wood,… Taste is bitter roasted malts, alcohol, huge chocolate, light raisins & cherries, liqueur drenched cherries, maple, restrained whisky, bitter malts, warming, slightly alcoholic finish. Big bodied, lower carb. slightly sticky. Interesting & very nice. Also Barley Wine???
Tried from Bottle on 11 Aug 2013 at 10:52

8.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Imported from my RateBeer account as Orkney Dark Island Reserve (by Orkney Brewery (Sinclair Breweries)):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 17/20, MyTotalScore: 4.1/5

10/VIII/13 - 75cl bottle @ RBBSG II, my place - bottled: XI/2008 (2013-746) Thanks to BelgBeerGeek for sharing the bottle!

Clear dark brown beer, small off-white head, unstable, non adhesive. aroma: dried fruits, caramel, sugary, bit of chloride, peated whisky. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: caramel, dried fruits, some raisins, bit of chocolate, sugary, mocha, hoppy. Aftertaste: little bitter, caramel, mocha, quite some chocolate, bit of citrus, sugary ending. Very nice rich and complex beer, love it!
Tried from Bottle on 10 Aug 2013 at 11:08