Bim Bam Invergordon Whisky BA

One of the countless HBH variants executed at Deca under the Bim Bam brand name - piled on top of an already confusingly long series of HBH beers produced before by Alvinne. This time the basic beer, a dark one but I have no idea which one, was aged on Invergordon whisky barrels, allegedly the only single grain whisky from the Scottish Highlands and one I never heard of. Bottle shared at home with Totem's brewer Klaas - after an exhaustingly long tasting at my place, so sorry to David Rogiers, the man behind this project, if my review here lacks a bit in accuracy... Pale greyish beige, medium thick, breaking and thinning head on a hazy mahogany brown robe with burgundy glow. Aroma of caramel, indeed clear whisky, beech nuts, brown rum, vanilla-scenting oak wood, dried prunes, fig, varnish, nutmeg, dried cranberries, wood glue, old raisins. Sweet, sleek onset, dried prunes and old raisins again, touches of fig and lingonberry, medium carb with quite full, smooth, somewhat vinous mouthfeel; caramelly maltiness, sweetish but not sweet if you get my drift, with a slightly nutty edge and even some light toasty bitterness, as well as brown bread dough effect in its core. Herbal hops pair with soft woody tannins (even some lingering vanillin), while this Invergordon whisky provides a non-peaty, quite elegant and vinous, warming and rich booze effect. It blends in with the beer almost seamlessly - so this combination of beer and whisky seems to be a very successful one, with less of the contrast (and sometimes clashes) in flavours one sees in some other HBH creations; for this reason I am inclined to declare this one above average in comparison with many of its predecessors, even though it is still a bit on the crude side. Solid.