Ah yes the Blind Tiger treats me well again. The day after I went with Ceeg to sample some fine brews I found myself back there waiting to meet up with some friends in the west village. Spying the board, I noticed that the Ola Dubh 30, which I had tasted 6 oz of the day before , was now being sold at an even more reasonable $5 for 12oz with the happy hour discount. Given that a 12oz. bottle of this goes for $20, I had to jump at it.
I want to qualify this review a bit by saying that I haven’t sampled the Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, the beer with which this colossal brew begins, and I intend to immediately file a review on it as soon as I get my hands on a bottle. Regardless, the appeal of this beer was immediate, poured as it was on two consecutive days on a nearly month old cask at a popular bar. For those who don’t know, the story of this beer as it that the Old Ale base is aged in Highland Scotch Barrels which have been used to age 30 year old scotch. Similar iterations of the beer are available in 12 and 18 year varieties, denoting the age of the whiskey it was used to age. I have not sampled these “younger” scotch barrel aged brews either, but having sampled this one I’m quite sure I’ll dig em.
Ola Dubh 30 smells immediately of wood smoke, peat, and moss — like real good Scotch, of which I happen to be a big fan as well. The background beer is strong and supports this heavy flavor addition, shining through with malted and bitter notes, forming a taste experience, when poured from a cask, which comes off as a slightly carbonated chocolatey scotch. With a bit of coffee. Which might sound weird, but is actually pretty incredible. I rate this beer very highly and though I’m not quite flush enough these days to spring for a bottle (which comes in a miniature scotch bottle like presentation), it does come highly recommended.
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