Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Bottles. Clear amber/brown body with an off-white head that holds well. Steady carbonation. Good lacing. Aroma of toffee, rusted metal, cigar, burnt sugar and wood. Flavour of nuts, rust, toffee apple, raisin, treacle and prune - there’s a slight (not unpleasant) sourness that underpins it all. Medium body with a slick texture. Soft carbonation. A decent beer - at a good price too.

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

500ml bottle. Pours clear dark brown with a small beige head. Aroma is dried fruit, toasted bread, caramel, nutty. Taste is light sweet. Medium bitter finish. Medium to full bodied.

Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 7

Misted chestnut brown with a moderate ivory-coloured head of decent retention. Toast & caramel, pleasant esters, dried fruits, British hop. Medium dry. Light plus ending bitterness. Balanced and rounded. Good.

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Scotch by Carlsberg-owned Scottish classic McEwan's, apparently specifically brewed (at least originally) as a competition entry, hence the - perhaps overconfident - name. Bottle from a mall in Aberdeen. Pale yellowish beige, dense and creamy, medium thick, membrane-lacing, slowly opening head on a clear deep and warm mahogany bronze robe with amber glow and fine strings of visible fizz. Aroma of caramel or even sticky toffee pudding, medlar, dried fig, lingonberry touch, clear added iron (hand test!), tea, chewing gum, wet tree leaves, dried banana, brown bread, walnut cake. Rounded, sweet onset with very light sourish tinge, quite actively carbonated (artificially) with subdued fruity notes of pear, medlar and fig; smooth caramel-malty middle, bread crust and very light nuttiness as well, even a brief and volatile nod at (powder) chocolate, but also the iron setting in at that point - alas. Toasty-bitter malt finish with mild herbal hoppiness in its trail, but consistently mellowed by dried dark fruit and toffee notes. Decent for a 'macro' wee heavy - way above the Gordon Scotch Ale still well-known in Belgium today, for example - but its most obvious flaws lie exactly in the fact that it is macro, being filtered, pasteurised and 'ironed'. Pour this into 'craft' form and you will have a beautiful example of the style.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Old rating from 06-08-15 - 500ml bottle, pours a dark brown colour with a light brown head. Aromas of fruit and malt. Tastes of sweetness, as well as fruit and malt with a real feel of the ABV. Enjoyable

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle at home pikced up from Sainsbury's A clear reddish copper coloured pour with a lasting magnolia head. Aroma is nutty autumnal malts, cakey, dried fruits, roasted nuts, twiggy. Flavour is composed of semi sweet, layered malts, nutty malts, twiggy, lingering rusty penny, bitter finish. Palate is semi sweet, rounded, drying mineral, moderate carbonation. Quite nice

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 5.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle from Tesco, Brooklands. Yes, clearly purchased for the style tickage. Aroma is super sweet, like superglue. Opaque dark brown. Thick foamy beige head. Sweet sweet stuff. Fruity. Gluey. Caramel. Followed by a bitter streak that combines berries and the twigs they were picked from (presuming they don't just dump the whole brach in - twigs, berries, and all). Light-medium bodied. Slick. Soft-fizzy carbonation. Long somewhat astringent finish. Decent enough. Twiggy nut boozy.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5