Old Engine Oil Engineer's Reserve Blackest Ale | Harviestoun Brewery Ltd.

4.19/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.21/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I think this was a strong but delicious porter.

Look: Jet black with two-inch mocca head.

Aroma: The aroma is roasted malts, chocolate, and a hint of coffee.

Taste:. The taste is roasted malts, milk chocolate, a hint of licorice, a hint of coffee. I did not taste much of the alcohol despite the 9.00%, but there were some, just the right amount.

Feel: It is rich, creamy, full bodied, and stronger than most porters but less hoppy than most stouts.

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4.89/5  rDev +15.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

4.5/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75

Decanted into a shaker pint glass.
A: Mahogany to black with a limited tan head that dissipates quickly. No lacing
S: Dark malty sweetness with dark chocolate, molasses, anise, and pepper.
T: Dark malt, more milk chocolate than dark, smoked ham in balance with the bitterness of the hops.
M: Full bodied, nice effervescence.
O: A distinctly superior version of the porter style.

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4/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.44/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

4.94/5  rDev +17.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

A bartender at my local pub gave me a bottle of this beer as a birthday gift. It was, indeed, the blackest beer I have ever experienced. I did not give the smell and adequate test, but I recall it's intensity. The taste was wildly dark and strong, reminiscent of a fine black rum with hints of licorice, strong sweet spices (nutmet, cinnamin and the like. The feel was heavy, like molasses, and it rolled across the tongue adding hints of dark bittersweet chocolate and strong coffee to the other flavors. Everything about it was excessive in the best sense of that word. Its intensity make it a beer I could not drink everyday, but one I would choose to have when I want to sit for awhile and savor a beer.

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4.45/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A fast, gluggy pour--very thick and very still. Very, very dark.

One of the most chocolatey malt aromas I've ever come across, and the barley is alcoholic in *just* the right way to evoke the smell of a very high-cocao dark chocolate. It smells, in short, like dark chocolate fudge and booze.

Doesn't taste nearly as complex as its smaller brother, but the straightforwardness works. Dark chocolate up front, with notes of cherries and char, getting sweeter and stoutier as it progresses, finishing on a pleasant twinge of alcohol. Unlike most large stouts, it's not very hoppy, and there is little by way of wine or fruit. Instead, the barley gets full stage, and it makes the most of it.

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4/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.04/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

3.77/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

4.79/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

4.35/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.6/5  rDev +9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

4.6/5  rDev +9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.43/5  rDev +5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.79/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

3.5/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

4.25/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.62/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

Dark nearly black out of the bottle, and slightly sludge like, but fills with actually a touch of clarity under the head, but a big dark walnut brown and solid body. Head is fleeting. A sticky two finger mocha, that slowly settles to a small crowned thin puck.

Aroma is quite impressive. Dark roasted malts, touches of berried like fruit esters. Sharp molasses with a real nice dryness hinting of almost burnt licorice (in a nice way), and thick sticky tobacco like notes. Drying and parched, warm and inviting, sticky like a swamp. Ready and excited to dive in.

A nearly perfect porter. Creamy and rich body filling the palate with wonderful array of flavors. First sip is silky rich notes of roast and berried fruit but turns darker almost raisin like with less sweetness. Then the licorice tones kick in. Smoke like, with dried tannic black licorice that just tastes like chewing tobacco on every sip. Excellent warmth and a large herbal to fruity hop oil sensation, with soft astringency on the aftertaste. Oily indeed everywhere, with slick and rich coating, but also just touching the palate like velvet. Slight phenols add some bitterness as well, just to keep things interesting.

A true classic brew, not perfect, but a total winner. I could curl up in front of the fire and drink this non stop until it burns out… or if I do… whichever comes first.

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4.41/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.22/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

3.38/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

4.55/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This one has it all, great flavors

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