Silver Series: Tumeaine Laphroaig BA
Pühaste Brewery

 

Pours a pitch-black coloration with a small, creamy, mocha-colored head. Smells of rich roasted, caramel malt and dark chocolate, with lighter peat and licorice as well as hints of coffee and oak. Taste is a perfect balance of quite roasted, caramel malt, rich dark and bitter chocolate, peat and lighter coffee, licorice and tobacco, as well as hints of leather, dark fruit and oak. Finishes bittersweet, with a light bitterness and some roasted malt, dark chocolate, peat and licorice lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a rich body and low carbonation.

I absolutely love a good Scotch barrel-aged Stout and this certainly fits the bill with its rich, yet mellow balance of roasted, bitter, sweet and peaty notes, with the roasted malt and dark chocolate standing out particularly and being complemented very nicely by a distinct, but restrained peat and tobacco presence that never feels overbearing, while lighter notes of coffee, licorice and dark fruit add to the complexity here. Overall, this is a terrific, rich and complex, yet very well-balanced Laphroaig barrel-aged Stout that really showcases those Islay barrel notes without them feeling too overbearing or boozy and once again establishes Pühaste's Silver Series as some of the best barrel-aged beer coming out of Europe and at a very reasonable price point as well. Simply fantastic stuff.