Ola Dubh Special Reserve 12
Harviestoun Brewery

L- carbonation kicked the foam up into a beautiful crescendo.
S- lovely chocolate.
T- complex
F- full bodied.

 

 

Bought at Bottle Craft in North Park San Deigo. Can't remember the exact price, but probably somewhere between $8-10. Bottled 02/2022, consumed 07/30/2025. Left out a little over 30 mins before cracking.

A&S: Not a pretty-looking beer. Dark brown/black brew without a head. Aroma contains oak, scotch, earthy tones, and smoke. It also has hints of vanilla.

T&M: Lots of peat. Smoke and coffee in the finish. Scotch-forward and surprisingly alcoholic for its ABV. Heavy on the palate. Mouthfeel is flat and soft without any real creaminess.

Overall: Good flavor for the ABV, but not a remarkable beer in my opinion. Harviestoun Brewery seems like the main curator of these English stouts (7 of the top 10), but I just wasn't super impressed.

Dark brown color. Nice, beige head. Burned sugar, wood, cocoa, and hint of smoke in aroma. The flavor of dried fruits, whisky, and cocoa. Sweet and malty. Smooth, warming finish.

Copenhagen 27/11 2022. 33 cl bottle from Meny, Rødovre Centrum, Rødovre. Text heavy label with signatures from both the Master Brewer and the Master Whisky Maker. And a little booklet to complete the impression of dignified luxury.

Pours opaque dark brown with a small off-white head. A bit bubbly. Settles as thin flimsy and patchy layer of foam clinging to the sides of the glass. No lacing.

Aroma is intense with a sweet almost candy-like odor trying in vain to hide a potent, earthy and boozy scent. Toffee, caramel and brown sugar. Peat, leather, sea salt and a lurking presence of smoky whisky.

Light carbonation. Thick, oily, viscous, soft, smooth, almost flat texture.

Flavor is intense with a medium strong sweetness followed and balanced by a medium strong sourish bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter. Lingers for a while. Finish is semi-dry with a searing quality.

Potent black oil from Scottish coast.

Holy Cow! I thought while taking my 1st sip. This is THE BEST beer I've ever had. I haven't tried anything else from Harviestoun Brewery but I'm willing to bet it's atleast just as good as this beer. It's almost $7 CAD a bottle, but so worth it. Maybe not several a day, but if you want a special beer to start off on or for whatever reason you NEED to try this beer. I didn't think it could get any better than Weihenstephaner or Gregorius (Also the BEST beers available) but Harviestoun just goes 1 step above for me. So glad I tried this.

Crystal clear, dark brown pour; opaque dark brown body; one-finger thick head, light khaki colored and semi-cream texture. Mildly spicy dark roasted grains; cardamom and anise; wisp of white oak. Delicate milk chocolate flavor with a subtle grain char bitterness; faint whisky backdrop; hint of mint. Heavy body; slick and nearly oily mouthfeel.

Man, what a great find for a beer. A serendipitous discovery. I went looking for a new (to me) Irish beer and a local strong and ale and found a case of this beer sitting on the floor by the other imported beers. I've loved Harviestoun Brewery beers in the past and haven't seen any for a while. To say that this was a 'must grab' beer is an understatement. It's not an overstatement to say I'm very, very happy with how this played out.

ABV: 8%; pouring temperature: 52.3 °F: bottling info: BOTTLE NO & DATE - 02309 2022 L2053
Source: local purchase (Coaltrain Fine Wine, Craft Beer & Spirits

Pours out a fairly opaque dark colour, with a nice frothing mocha head. Head dissipated quickly but left a nice cap on the beer for the duration. Wonderful appearance.

Aroma is milk chocolate and raisins up front, a bit of roasted coffee. Some dark fruits crop up as it warms, a bit of prune, dried figs and maybe some dates. The main takeaway for me is milk chocolate with a slight bitter tang of fresh coffee. Very appetising, and nothing over the top. Kinda subtle in a way.

Lactose up front on the tongue as it hits the palate, licorice and chocolate the predominant flavours. Some cola and a bit of raisin, figs and dates on the back of the tongue. Finishes medium dry, more sweet than anything. Again, fairly subdued and subtle, nothing is over the top. A great sipper.

Medium to full mouthfeel. Excellent, though in my opinion it could use just a tad more body. Very good indeed.

 

330ml bottle - March 2018 vintage

Pours black with a creamy frothy light tan brown colored foam head. Smells dark, roasted, smoky and meaty with peated whisky notes, dark chocolate, coffee roast, bbq brisket, dark caramels, char, oak, toffee, vanilla, hint of dark fruit, licorice, with earthy grassy hops. Tastes nutty, roasted, dark, smoky, dry, with notes of macadamia, peated whisky, oak barrel, caramels, honey, toffee, vanilla, toast, char, coffee roast, dark chocolate, licorice, ash, bbq meat, subtle dark dried fruit, leather, tobacco, heather flower, and earthy grassy hops. Feels medium bodied, thick, creamy and slick with smooth moderate carbonation. Overall a really great Scotch whisky barrel aged stout.

 

8% in an American-sized nonic pint glass

notes in bot:
Smoke and fish.

notes in glass:
less fish more smoke, some boozy

appear:
no head, just rim foam. midnight red appearance, hard to see light through.

sip:
Smoke and malt.

gulp:
The earthiness differentiates itself from the ensemble of savory flavors for the first time. More of the smoke and malt collaborating. No sign of fish, must have just been the bottle.

GLUG:
even more of the earthiness mixes with the smoke and malt to make something approximate to dark chocolate.

This is the type of beer I love to see. Just a perfect example of a stout where everything mixes together well. It's kinda pricey for that though, but I might be spoiled and am tasting something better than average. Goes down relatively smooth with almost no bite, but is kinda just a glop of liquid unless you really savor it.

11.2oz bottle #03584 July 2020 (3 years old) purchased recently at room temp, but the oxygen absorbing cap looks to have done it's job. It's poured into a tulip glass at fridge temp and the label states 8% ABV. The beer pours dense very dark brown with light brown head. The head recedes to an uneven cap about a 1/16" average. The aroma is mild to moderate in strength and brings chocolate, leather, dark fruit and earthy notes. The taste is bittersweet roasted malt with with immediate and lingering peat. As you acclimate to the peat, dark fruit, cocoa, tobacco, seaweed, leather, and single malt barrel appear. Mild to moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with just less that average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, complex and enjoyable with every taste a bit different. Excellent stout (if you enjoy peat).

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head, and a little bit of lacing.

This smells like vanilla, light inky smoke, cookie dough, dark chocolate, and espresso.

For the negative parts of scotch barreling are the overwhelming peat and sort of funky earthiness – luckily, this really has very little of that, with just a hint of nice light smokiness, and lots of vanilla and chocolate. There’s definite cookie dough vibes, with coffee and some light fruitiness as well.

This is medium bodied, silky, not super thick but definitely not thin.

I really appreciate how well done this series tends to be.

 

 

Bottled July 2020

My first beer in the Ola Dubh series, and we’re starting pretty low on the totem pole or aging and ranking. Hopefully I can try the 40 one day, which is the highest rated English Stout, but for now I’ll have to enjoy this. Let’s get into it

Pours nearly pitch black with 2 fingers of tan head that fades to a thin cap and leaves minimal lacing

This one is unique in the nose, showing some characteristics similar to oxidation notes but done artfully. I’m picking up on aromas of fig, sticky toffee, brown bread, red berries, vanilla, earthy whiskey, sweet caramel, and a touch of dark chocolate

Unfortunately in taste it drops off a bit, feeling rather thin and boozy. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting earthy whiskey, sharp oak, sticky caramel, and red berries. The swallow brings notes of dark toast, earthy whiskey, sweet caramel, vanilla, fig, and light peat smoke

A medium full body pairs with gentle tingling carbonation, resulting in a thin and hot beer. Finishes neutral but tangy and boozy

This is a bit out there, and not really anything special, but I still enjoy it. Just a bit too thin in my opinion

 

Pours like a porter, dark with a thick tan head. Aroma is whisky with some roasted notes. Taste has whisky upfront and roasted malts at the end. Feel is good smooth and rich. Overall it's decent but not anything special.