Heaven & Hell - Bowmore BA
Brouwerij De Molen

 

 

found this one on draft at owl farm in new york, one of the cooler little beer bars i have been in all year to be honest. this is a special version of this de molen classic, aged in nice scotch barrels. its not overly peaty, but the smoke on it fits in so well with what i know about the rest of the de molen catalog, and with their yeast, which stands as one of the most distinctive out there, and absolutely one of my favorites. perhaps its a shorter barrel ageing time or something, but i get more wood than whiskey in this instance, not a bad thing at all. a very complex malt base, as i know from the base beer, not overrun by the barrel treatment at all, even enhanced by it here with the earthy campfire smoke and attendant bitterness. deep cocoa and slow burning pipe tobacco, along with hints of anise and pepper, so smooth and rich, without being sweet. the booze is strong, but i feel like its supposed to be, and like many of the big heavy complex dark de molen beers, the yeast seems to thrive on that. overall this is beautifully dynamic brew, nice and mature, mellow and warming for the holidays, as interesting as any of their beers, and sort of quintessentially them, which i love. couldnt drink a ton of this, but thats not always the point. these guys never let me down, one of the finest breweries in all the land does it again!