Innis and Gunn Oloroso (Scotland)

Innis and Gunn Oloroso (Scotland) 7.4% 

A full gold in a glass with a big frothy head of white foam. A sweet caramel aroma, some bright, lightly spicy wood notes.

Sweet caramel flavour though not as sweet as some Innis and Gunn products that are really sweet. The wood notes are pleasant and lighter oak. This beer doesn't have any of the sourness that some oaked beers have hints of and there are some well placed dry, grassy hops flavours. Innis and Gunn seemed to make a big deal about the Oloroso barrels but I didn't find the flavour all that different from other barrels they have used. I find this is a really nice tasting beer, exhibiting better balance that some other Innis and Gunn ales while still keeping with their very sweet, very strong, cask aged beer tradition.

Scottish Pale Ale - Innis and Gunn (Scotland)

Scottish Pale Ale - Innis and Gunn (Scotland) 7.0%

Sweet, caramel-heavy aroma filled with barrel tones but not dark, smoky barrel tones. Instead it is a light oakiness of a white wine. Full gold in a glass and crystal clear with a fairly thin head.

A taste that is sweet and yet more balanced overall than many Innis and Gunn oak aged beers. The oak comes in rather light, is in balance with the sweetness and there is even some subtly peppery hops bitterness. A lightly sugary finish of caramel and a lingering oak aftertaste.

Innis and Gunn's Scottish Pale Ale is deceptively high in alcohol. I say deceptively because it is easy drinking and you certainly do not taste any alcohol despite it being 7.0% ABV. Innis and Gunn's oak aged beers, though still very good, are often very sweet and very oaky but, because of the amount of hops used, their Scottish Pale Ale is neither really. As a result, if you found some previous Innis and Gunn's beers too flavourful, this one may be more your speed; however, for those of you hoping for a hops forward beer from Innis and Gunn, this one is not it but it is still very good.

Ola Dubh Ale - Harviestoun (Scotland)

Ola Dubh Ale - Harviestoun (Scotland) 8.0%

Ola Dubh Ale pours blackly opaque with a thick nice head leaving lovely lacing. The aroma is dark chocolate and loads of it, coconut, maple, toffee, smokey, a touch of booze and more than a bit of oak. It tastes of coffee, alcohol, with a oatmeal creamy mouthfeel; quite sweet, toffee, then the aroma flavours dark chocolate and coconut come through in the taste with a wood tone laden finish.

Innis and Gunn Rum Cask (Scotland)

Innis and Gunn Rum Cask (Scotland) 7.4%

Very sweet at first and throughout, a definite alcohol burn which suits the amazingly intense rum flavour. Oak tones as well as spice and a whole punch bowl of fruit tones. A very strong tasting and interesting beer. Unforgettable and definitely worth trying. A great aroma that reminds me of sunlight, spices and wood.

Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted Blond Beer (Scotland)

Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted Blond Beer (Scotland) 4.2%

A pleasantly complicated hoppy beer. Bitter but well rounded, a little fruity with tones of citrus (particularly lemon) though mainly hoppy but overall quite a light tasting beer.  It you are interested in different flavours of hops or would like to get to know hops better, this beer would be a fun experience for you. Great bottle cap too.

Innis and Gunn Canada Day 2012 (Scotland) 7.7%

Innis and Gunn Canada Day 2012 (Scotland) 7.7%

Oaky and very sweet aroma but with some dry European hops hanging around too. A dark amber in a glass with a off-white head. The taste is strong in oak barrel tones (as are all of Innis and Gunn oak aged beers) but less sweet and more bitter than many of their other brews and there is a fairly prominent dry hops character to the taste as well. The malt is flavour is caramelized and sweet.

The suggested serving temperature is 4-6 degrees Celcius (39 to 43 degrees Fahrenheit) which seems more than a touch too cold in my judgement. At that temperature the alcohol taste is a bit strong. As Innis and Gunn Canada Day 2012 warms, the malt tones develop some more sugary caramel characteristics and the dry hops continue to figure prominently but the alcohol doesn't come out in the taste as much anymore. At any temperature you'll feel some alcohol warming and a tingling sensation on your tongue from the walloping 7.7% alcohol by volume.

Innis and Gunn Canada Day 2012 is an interesting beer and distinct from the rest Innis and Gunn's other offerings, although it certainly hails from the same region on the taste spectrum: the detectable use of hops is unique, as far as I have experienced, but the barrel notes and the high level of sweetness is typical of Innis and Gunn ales. It drinks a lot like a Scottish Wee Heavy actually although it is probably too light on the malt characteristics to fit that mould perfectly. Nice to see (taste?) that this special beer is indeed special and not just any other Innis and Gunn is a pretty box.

Innis and Gunn Original (Scotland) 6.6%

Innis and Gunn Original (Scotland) 6.6%

Quite a pleasant and very sweet toffee flavour at first which is an interesting prelude to the oak, peat, and scotch flavours that follow. A truly unique beer, it tastes so much more like the scotch bearing barrels it is aged in than it tastes like a beer. An unforgetable taste that deserves to be savoured.

Innis and Gunn Spiced Rum Finish (Scotland) 7.4%

Innis and Gunn Spiced Rum Finish (Scotland) 7.4%

A toffee aroma that will buckle your knees. Vanilla and also a hint of alcohol along rum and a hint of spice mixed with oak tones. Such a nice aroma I could sit with my nose in the glass all afternoon!

A distinct warming of the chest as I sipped on this delicious ale. A touch of bitterness, alcohol and even a hint of hops at the very first. Then very sweet with toffee and vanilla. As the toffee fades, spices and oak come out with as the spiced rum makes it presence felt.

Innis and Gunn Spiced Rum Finish is a spectacular mix of the warm toffee flavours of Innis and Gunn's Scottish Ale and the flavours of vanilla, oak and others from a fine spiced rum missing only the strong, burning alcohol taste of hard liquor. Very enjoyable and memorable like all the other Innis and Gunn products I have tried.

Innis and Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask Scottish Stout (Scotland) 7.4%

Innis and Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask Scottish Stout (Scotland) 7.4%

This beer is very much a stout; dark and nearly opaque in a glass, Innis and Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask Scottish Stout has strong elements of chocolate, coffee and smoke from the darkly roasted malt in the taste and the aroma. The task is quite sweet but there is a earthiness (peat?), a bit of a nutty flavour in there as well as wood notes, something red and caramelized and a bitter, lightly smoked taste that lends balance. At 7.4% there is also a cheek-tingling high alcohol feeling though the alcohol does not show up too much in the taste.

Innis and Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask Scottish Stout is an excellent high alcohol stout, the only knock against it (if you can call it that) is that it doesn't stand out from the pack quite so much as one might expect. Innis and Gunn's more unique, and delicious, offerings are barrel tone heavy versions of their respective styles; Irish Whiskey Cask Scottish Stout, however, is clearly a stout with some barrel tones, not the other way around. If you like other high alcohol stouts, like Russian Imperial Stouts, you'll probably like this easy drinking (dangerously easy drinking) version of a high alcohol stout (like a Russian Imperial Stout without the hoppy bitterness). On the other hand, if you find some of Innis and Gunns other beers too sweet or you don't like the strong flavour imparted by the barrel aging process you may find Innis and Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask Scottish Stout to your liking.

Innis and Gunn Blonde (Scotland) 6.0%

Innis and Gunn Blonde (Scotland) 6.0%

A bunch of sediment in the bottom, thought that was a bit odd especially since it's new to the store. Gold in a glass, the sediment did a good job staying on the bottom of the bottle - thankfully.

Very sweet, oak wood tones aroma. The taste is candy sweet, brown sugar, caramel touches along with plenty of vanilla and oak wood tones and a little bit of malt. Innis and Gunn's Blonde is quite nice if you are prepared for how sweet it is because it really is very sweet. The oak tones are balanced and not overpowering. This is a nice ale suitable for sipping or quaffing.

Tennent's Original Export Lager (Scotland) 5.0%

Tennent's Original Export Lager (Scotland) 5.0%

A pale gold colour in a glass with lacing actually. Creamy sweet malty aroma with a the barest touch of dry hops. Light malty and sweet taste but with a bitter finish not much of an aftertaste - a touch of durum semolina (the main ingredient in pasta).  Overall Tennent's is a pretty innocuous ale, so I can see why it is popular in pubs: it is not bad but not really much there.

Old Engine Oil - Harviestoun (Scotland) 6.0%

Old Engine Oil - Harviestoun (Scotland) 6.0%

Opaque and black with a nice tan coloured head of foam. The aroma is of coffee, dark bitter chocolate with some smoky wood tones, hints of hops and a bit of caramel. A lovely complicated tasting beer: hops with some alcohol initially, milk chocolate and sweetened coffee with cream then a caramel finish and finally a coffee then dark, dark chocolate aftertaste. An exceptionally nice porter, exquisitely balanced and full of flavour.

80 - Caledonian Brewery (Scotland)

80 - Caledonian Brewery (Scotland) 4.1%

Molasses, clover nectar aroma - very sweet and SO roasty. A touch of wooden tones too. A perfect brown colour in a glass, very clear. Roasty, sweet brown sugar taste more than molasses. Water and refreshing mouthfeel. Brown bread tones and slightest hazelnut hint. Some nice fairly light fruit tones: raisins and faintly peachy - kind of like a red or purple grocery store punch.

UK Pub Brews

The flavours and mouthfeel of the following five beers are characteristic of beers I associate with pubs in the United Kingdom. There are many nice flavours but the slightly watery mouthfeel keeps all of these beers refreshing so that you could easily drink more than a couple. Enjoy!


Spitfire Premium Kentish Ale (England - Faversham) 4.5%

A warm toffee, roasty flavour. A pleasant sweet grain taste as well as a lively hops taste; somewhat bitter as a result (of the hops). A mild sherry-esque flavour of fruit rounds out the mix. That same fruit sherry aspect is prominent in the aroma along with toffee and roasted tones. A unique and pleasant drinking beer.

Ruddles County Traditional English Ale (England) 4.7%

Smells of bitter hops and is smooth on the tongue and almost a little watery. Tastes like toasted bread, lightly caramel, pleasantly bitter with a hint of coffee and a sprucy hops aftertaste although it's not nearly as hoppy as the smell initially led me to believe. A refreshing and interesting mix of flavours.

Belhaven Best (Scotland) 4.8%

I can see why this would be as popular in Scottish pubs as the can claims (though I saw more Tennets, London's Pride and Stella Artois). Belhaven Best's aroma is chock full of caramelized malt, as is the flavour, though there are also smoke and wooden tones that make it tasty if you like reds or, ahem, Scottish ales. Also its creamy head of foam and slightly watery mouthfeel make it very much pub-appropriate and session-able. It is a reddish brown colour in a glass and quite enjoyable.

Boddingtons Pub Ale (England) 4.7%

When you pour this ale from it's charming tall-can you are rewarded with a gold coloured curtain of tiny cascading bubbles that forms an extremely creamy head of foam. The aroma is of fresh bread and lots of roasty notes with hints of hops and spruce.

The ale itself is smooth and creamy as promised, and fairly sweet with a caramel touch. While it has roast tones and is bitter, it is also watery in a way that makes it dance on your tongue: hitting here and there while never being too strong tasting. Seems like an ideal summertime beer even though I'm drinking it in the depths of February. Highly drinkable and very pleasant, authentic to the style and it pairs well with a variety of dishes, those containing Dijon mustard in particular.

Old Speckled Hen - Morland Brewing (England - Suffolk) 5.2%

A fruity bouquet and a extra-reddish sort of amber colour in a glass with a full head. In true English fashion, this beer should definitely be served a little warmer than most in order to get the full flavours. It is malty, and bitter but also sweet (just the way ale should be). The malt taste is roasty and there is a little bit of spiciness lurking there too. Something about Old Speckled Hen always reminds me of sun-dappled wood floors.

Overall it is not too strong tasting, so drinkers with tastes that tend to the more bland beers could try this for a initial excursion into the wonderful land of full flavoured beers and ales. Also, I feel Old Speckled Hen is a good example of an English ale or at least it puts me in mind of a few of the better ones I had the good fortune to imbibe while I was in the UK.

Chin chin!

Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA (Scotland) 6.1%

Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA (Scotland) 6.1%

Sweet roasty taste, quite bitter. Oak and scotch tones suggest this Scottish ale may have been aged in the same type of barrels sued in the production of scotch (a la Innis & Gunn). The sweet caramel flavour and bitter finish are nicely balanced. At a shade above 6% it is a strong beer. The hop aroma promised on label is masked by the other aspects of oak & caramel though there is certainly hops in the bitter finish. Not sprucey like an American style IPA and surprisingly sweet but still tasty.