7.1

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

Cask at Archibald Simpson, Aberdeen. It pours pretty much black with a thick, dense tan head. The aroma is dark roasted malt, charred, earthy, burnt toast, cacao nibs, dark chocolate, malt loaf and coffee beans. The taste is firmly dry, bitter, dark roasted malt, charred, coffee beans, light acidity, umami, liquorice, dark chocolate, cacao nibs and slightly ashy with a dark roasted finish. Average body and moderate, foamy cask carbonation. Decent

7

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Bown with off white head - Caramel malt aroma - Malt body with caramel flavours and some bitterness - Malt flavours goes into the finish - This was nice

6.4

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

Poured from 500mL bottle (bb Apr 2026). Clear amber brown with small off white head. Clean toffee malt, thin-medium body. Quite simple, but decently made.

6.5

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

Creamy off-white good mostly lasting head. Dark amber colour. Moderate malty and light hoppy aroma. Week candis notes. Moderate bitter flavor. Average moderate bitter finish. oily palate.

7.3

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

One of the rare 80/- Scottish ales still surviving today - the lighter variants, in various degrees of strength historically linked to respective tax brackets, of the much more familiar Scotch ale or wee heavy. Bottle from a supermarket in Aberdeen. Pale greyish off-white, moussey, opening, irregular but well-retaining head on a clear chestnut brown robe with coppery glow and disparate, tiny-bubbled sparkling. Aroma of roasted beech nuts, slightly burnt toast, iron (as in wet rusty nails), dry tree leaves, dried medlar, spring water, tea, wet bricks, dry caramel, earthy note. Cleanly fruity onset, some dried fig and wee pear, low in sweetness with sharpish carbonation (yet small-bubbled and working well at this ABV), smooth non-sweet caramelliness in the middle with roasted nut shell- to even very lightly coffee grounds-like toasty bitterness, though more bitterness eventually comes from leafy, herbal hops, all combining into a dryingly bitter, long ending, feeling quite 'full' in relation to ABV. You do not see this type of beers every day anymore, not even in Scotland, and if you do, it is usually an 80/- (the lower 'tax brackets' are all but extinct) so this was exciting enough for me as a means to delve deeper into this elusive style - and straightforward and 'sleek' as it was, it was certainly an enjoyable beer.

7.5

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

Scotch or wee heavy bought at a supermarket in Aberdeen, shared with Goedele. Thin and open, tiny-bubbled, pale greyish beige head over a clear, deep mahogany brown robe with ruddy highlights and lots of lively sparkling. Aroma of wet toast, dry caramel, old walnut shells, diluted chicory, butterscotch, medlar, pear skin, tea, 'Haagse hopjes', dried bayleaf. Sweetish, rounded onset, subtle notes of medlar, pear and blueberry with a vague red plum-ish sourish edge, medium carbonation, slick but quite full body. Smooth butterscotch- and caramel-like maltiness with brown-bready accents, slowly developing a mild toasty bitter side somewhat reminiscent of chicory, but remaining altogether rather subtle for the style; light herbal, tea-ish hops in the end, becoming a bit more spicy eventually. Classically styled, balanced, clean and easygoing example of a perhaps somewhat underrated style. Certainly enjoyed this one - in the setting of an old-fashioned Scottish hotel, which may have added to the experience...

6.9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 6