Bottle at Fiere Margriet, Leuven. Dark ruby amber with a lasting off-white head. Aroma of peat smoke and caramel. Sweet malty and roasted flavour with overwhelming peat.

One of several barrel aged Embrasse variations (hard to tell apart sometimes), bottle from Geers. Moussy, irregularly shaped, pale yellowish beige, opening but otherwise stable, irregularly lacing head, hazy chestnut brown robe with ruddy bronze hue. Aroma of strong peated whisky and damp peat (iodine) indeed, but not so strong that it blocks the features of the basic beer, hinting at caramel candy, dried figs, dry earth, blackcurrant, brown bread crust, plum, baked banana, some vague coffee powder and tea hints. Sweetish onset but in a very noble, restrained way (like the basic beer), lots of dried prunes, fig and baked banana slice impressions, estery but well-contained, light sourish touch, softish carbo, supple and full mouthfeel. Caramel-, pecan nut- and brown bread-like malt body, thick and rounded, lightly bitterish toasted edges; leafy herbal hop bitterishness in the finish accentuating the toastiness, lingering ‘clean’ breadiness, retronasal peaty whisky as expected but not too overpowering, dried plum-like remainders and a soothing afterglow of whisky-ish alcohol, which refrains from become too obtrusive. This is classy, technically correctly executed, noble and tasteful: one of the best Dochters I had so far. They to me are still the masters in adding peated flavours to their beers without going over the top.
Earlier Rating: 11/19/2016 Total Score: 3.8
The most common of these ’peated versions’ of Embrasse, without sticker, but with a hangtag that mentions "aged on Islay Whisky barrels for several months", so I assume it is this one. Bottle from Fontana in Sint-Niklaas. Very slow gushing, but nothing dramatic. Creamy, dense, pale yellowish beige head, stable on the edges with islands of foam in the middle, quickly reduced to a thin, tan veil; initially clear, deep burgundy coloured beer with warm ruby red hue, hazy with sediment. Strongly iodine-like and smoked peat jumps to the nose instantly, but in this case it - fortunately - fails to cover up all the rest: it is a pungent but thin layer on top of a series of more attractive impressions, including caramel, brown bread dough, fig, raisin, dry earth, ruby port, blackcurrant, moldy walnut shells, candi sugar, Liège pear syrup, very vague hints of tea, dried banana, ginger, apple peel. Fruity, rounded onset, brown sugar sweetness which - in combination with the esters - establishes an effect of candied dates and raisins, hints of pear and blue plum too, with an undercurrent of blackcurrant- and elderberry-like sourishness balancing out the sweetness; medium, finely tingling carbonation, ’full’ but smooth and lightly oily mouthfeel. Caramelly and nutty malt core, matching well with the ongoing brown sugary sweet aspect, but shifting to a softly toasted bitterness in the end, as is the case with the regular version, making it very close to a Scotch (if rather unintentionally). The finish is altogether dry - though the malt and sugar sweetness clearly pushes through - with sharpish wood tannins (and oaky taste), a spicy hop accent and, after all this, a strong and heating glow of indeed very whisky- but also somewhat port-like alcohol, while at the same time, the sharp and strong peat returns and oversees the final act of this interesting play, but that dark berry-like sourishness lingers even after the peat has faded, probably accentuated by the barrel ageing. Scotch ale, because that is loosely what this is, aged on Scottish whisky barrels: seemingly a match made in heaven, but frankly the Ardbeg version I had a couple of years ago, was not a great success for me: peaty whiskies are a finished and refined product as such, but when beer is aged on their barrels, their finesse is blurred completely and only the strongest flavor and aroma aspects survive - most notably the peat effect, with a very strong and sharp iodine-like character. I am still struggling with this peaty thing in beer (not so much in whisky) and in the Ardbeg version, I could hardly taste anything else. If you insist on making a ’peated beer’, though, I think this one does it right: though very pronounced, both the peat and the sharp alcohol effect of the whisky as such remain tolerable and leave just enough room for the basic beer to show its malty, toasted, sweet and fruity character. Still a tad on the strong side for me in terms of peat, but a whole lot better than the Ardbeg version, to my personal taste at least. Enjoyed it, and I can see this age beautifully with some years of cellaring, when the sharper edges become smoothened.

Bardzo mocno przeszlo tymi torfowymi klimatami, ale dosc zarazem nie ekstremalnymi. Slodkawe a malonciala. Duzo co2. Karmel w tle. Nie pasi

Bottle (thanks harri). Pours dark amber-black. Aroma is sweet, malt, roast, smight peat. Flavor is sweet and bitter, peat, malt, metallic notes. Finish is sweet and malty. Body is on the thinner sideOverall: good.

Frothy beige head soon left a good cover on a hazy chocolate coloured body. Big aroma of dark chocolate, whisky, dark fruits & dark spirits. Medium bodied, finely carbonated, smooth on the palate - feels creamy. Clean on the back. Taste is much as the aroma with chocolate, whisky, peat, dark fruit, grape, some bitter citrus hints and a long sweet smokey finish. This is a big complex beer.

Bottle. Dark brown pour. Aroma of smoke, peat, iodine, coffee, ripe fruit and caramel. Taste has nice meaty peat, smoke, caramel, figs, iodine and raisin. The islay works really well, tasty beer.

Bottle, 330 ml, shared with JFK10000, Max and Simon. Pours black with medium beige head. Strong peat, caramel, some dried fruit, sweet, some bitterness. Medium bodied.

How: Bottle.
Where: Tasting at hackobock, 2017-04-22.
Appearance: Dark brown colour with a minimal tan head.
Aroma: Caramel, a bit smoked, peat, malt, caramel, some fruit.
Body: Medium to full body, low carbonation.
Flavour: Peat, malt, smoked, some dried fruit.