Dark Island Reserve
Orkney Brewery

Poured from a fancy 330mL swing-top brown bottle that I picked up here in Edinburgh into a stemmed goblet. Bottled September 2025.

Appearance: very dark brown with just a little bit of light let through around the edges and a finger of compact tan foam atop.

Smell: quite sweet with a raisin, date, and shoe-leather aroma profile going on. There’s a little bit of oxidation and soy sauce aroma here, just a little, which is not surprising given the aging. It’s appropriate for the beer, and I like the complexity.

Taste: tobacco, date, raisin, and just a hint of chocolate, with a little roast at the end. There’s some of that oxidation here, too, although it’s more limited. The roastiness adds a dry finish, which nicely contrasts the overall sweetness of the beer. There’s some booziness here too. I like it.

Mouthfeel: rich body with plenty of carbonation and a silky, big creaminess. Great!

Overall: if you like dark, malty, traditionally-flavored non-pastry stouts, this beer will be for you. It’s not a stout, per se, but the big ABV and roastiness turn this wee heavy into something else. Definitely worth checking out.

Sample from cask at The Blue Blazer in Edinburgh. Pours a very creamy black with light brown head. The nose is dark roasted malts and coffee all the way. The taste is excellent. Creamy on the palate. Burnt sugar, dark roasted malts, charred wood, smoke, coffee, and light dark fruit. Excellent beer.

 

Purchased from Plonk in Fyshwick, Canberra, in August 2023. Drunk on a cold summer's day in December of that year.

L: Thick, oily, jet black, with no head whatsoever and no carbonation seen through the impenetrable blackness.

S: Rich plum, molasses and dark fruit. There's a slight barrel note towards the end, which, at least at the start of the glass, is overwhelmed by the plums but which comes into its own as the beer warms and the aroma dials back a notch.

T: The barrel very much comes to the fore in the taste profile, relegating the plums and dark fruit to a back seat. There's a woody note, as well as an unmistakable touch of the scotch whisky that originally inhabited the barrel. An earthy, acrid bitterness asserts itself on the swallow and lingers long afterwards. Alcoholic warmth is present and leaves a pleasant remnant in the throat, gullet and stomach.

M: Mouthfeel is pleasant - carbonation is minimal but sufficient to give the beer heft, and the body is full and smooth.

O: This beer was crafted in the Orkney Islands and is perfect for that climate. Australia is about as un-Orkney as you can get in terms of weather (normally - it's a cold and windy summer's day as I type this!), but this beer would be delicious and demand repeats no matter the location and no matter the temperature.

Cheers!
#413

 

 

 

2016 limited edition bottle. Sampled December 25, 2020.

Handsome dark brown pour with a quick fading tan head.

The aroma is roasted dark malts, black licorice, and alcohol.

Full mouthfeel.

The taste is sweet and malt forward with those whiskey barrel characters in play. Warming, satisfying finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just an absolutely fabulous world-class beer. I now have 5 bottles and I'm celebrating for special occasions.