Ola Dubh - 21 Year Old Special Reserve
Harviestoun in Alva, Clackmannanshire, Scotland 🏴
Traditional Beer - Old Ale Regular|
Score
7.53
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We make Ola Dubh 21 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 21 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 21 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, adding complementary whisky notes to our chocolatey, bittersweet beer.
Ola Dubh 21 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: East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Galena
Malts: Lager Malt, Pinhead Oats, Roast Barley
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 21 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, adding complementary whisky notes to our chocolatey, bittersweet beer.
Ola Dubh 21 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: East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Galena
Malts: Lager Malt, Pinhead Oats, Roast Barley
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7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Jet black, small beige head. huge barrel aroma, lots of scotch notes, quite woody, and earthy with subtle sweet fruit, and big roasted malts. Oily, thick mouth feel, almost no carb. The finish is medium bitter, with alot of roast and a dry woody, earthy barrel.
Tried
on 28 Feb 2025
at 06:02
7/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 7
Pleasant evening sipper.
Dark pour and a beige head.
Ok intensity in the aroma.
Mellow sweetness and a soft carbonation level.
Dark malt, roast, fruity and some chocolate in the flavor.
[Bottle at Sørjordet Plaza Christmas 24]
Dark pour and a beige head.
Ok intensity in the aroma.
Mellow sweetness and a soft carbonation level.
Dark malt, roast, fruity and some chocolate in the flavor.
[Bottle at Sørjordet Plaza Christmas 24]
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 Jan 2025
at 13:23
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle. A dark brown beer with a small beige head. Gentle aroma with some roasted malts, dark chocolate and a touch of alcohol and dark dried fruit. It's full bodied and warming, softly carbonated and semi sweet, with a very gentle bitterness. Lasting finish. Quite nice indeed. 241228
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Dec 2024
at 20:42
7/10
Very malty, woody, smoked, hint of peat, surprisingly light, but full body
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Apr 2024
at 23:13
7.4/10
Nice dry really classic old stout. Super discord but light enough. Sterk ams
Tried
on 23 Mar 2024
at 16:51
6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 6.5
Bottle #02660, Oct 2021, drunk 2/22/24. Dark, clear, mahogany tints. Small, light beige head quickly to edge. Really nice peppery whiskey with a bit of peat on the end. Chocolate, light prune and tobacco. I like that it's not a nose full of dark fruit, but actually shows more base malt. Clean. Lovely peated malt from the whiskey with some chocolate, light roast and toast and a bit of malt depth, though not a lot. I don't need these to be rich and thick but they all seem to be just a bit on the thin side, despite the flavors being excellent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Feb 2024
at 01:20
7.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle. Pours hazy nearly black with airy tan head. Clear aroma of malt, caramel, dried fruit, and yeast, with touches of barrel. Bitter, roasty and hoppy flavour woth notes of malt, barrel, dried fruit and yeast, and touches of caramel. Barrellike (whisky) and roasty aftertaste with dry and estery touches. Warming alcohol presence. Good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Jan 2024
at 20:24
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottled. Pitch black colour with minor head. Aroma is vanilla, roasted malts, some toffee and a mild vanillaish and wihiskyish edge to it. Flvour is sweet alcohol, roast, vanilla, mild leathery tones, tobacco, some whisky as well as mild toffee to it. Smooth and complex.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Jan 2023
at 10:56
7.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
Draught at Beer Witch: pours black with small beige head. Aroma is hints of vanilla, scotch, booze, moist pastries, chocolate, roast. Taste is lightly boozy. Some veritable bitterness. Roasty finish. Nice. not as barrelly as I would have thought.
Tried
on 21 Dec 2022
at 01:15
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle, no 04428 bottled oct 2021. Color: Almost black, beige head. Aroma: Roasted malt, dark chocolate, vanilla, Whisky. Taste: Dark roasted malt, fruity notes of dark fruit, notes of dark chocolate, vanilla, oak, Whisky, bit boozy, subtle toffee, licorice and smoke, peat, booze. Quite smooth and very well balanced. Over medium to full body, below average carbonation. Moderate to over moderate sweet and bitter. Very nice complexity. Hard to tell the differences from the 18 Year Old when not tasting together. Lovely beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 May 2022
at 19:54