Scottish Style Heavy Ale - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 7.0%

Scottish Style Heavy Ale - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 7.0%

Brown hued amber in a glass. Sweet, caramel, slightly oaky aroma with hints of vanilla and roast with just a bit of hops. A complicated flavour with heady fruit esters and roasty sweetness, some caramel, some wood tones and bread flavours. Some hops flavour here and there lending some balance. Not much taste of the 7% alcohol except mixed with the fruit esters and hops to generate a port-like flavour and the wood tones respectively. I'd recommend serving it warmish to get the full flavour. A bit of a different take on a Scottish Wee Heavy: Big Rick's Scottish Style Heavy Ale is on the sweeter side but without those heavy, almost chewy, malt flavours.

St-Ambroise Scotch Ale - McAuslan Brewing (Canada - Montreal)

St-Ambroise Scotch Ale - McAuslan Brewing (Canada - Montreal) 7.5%

A brown amber in a glass. Initially a dry, lightly hoppy aroma that reminds me of euro lagers (which was unexpected) but after the head faded (which happened rather quickly, actually) dark malt aromas of grain, peat (that's probably because I'm looking at the word scotch too much but it is a touch smoky), roasty glaze and not quite coffee tones continuing on into a quite sweet aroma with molasses, light wood tones and vanilla is a late arriving scent. The vanilla is very pleasant and very noticeable once some of the other aromas fade. Really, the vanilla comes to dominate with dark malt sweetness and the hops sticking around and keeping the balance nicely. No alcohol really detectable in the aroma but that may change as it warms up.

Bundles of flavours to taste here. Clearly high in alcohol that you can taste in the roof of your mouth but carried so nicely by chewy malt flavours of molasses, dark bread and some dark fruit touches like prunes or dark candied cherries. The aftertaste is long lingering, less sweet and hoppier with grain flavours as well as the shadow of dark malt flavours. As St-Ambroise Scotch Ale warms, caramel flavours reveal themselves from the mix and assert themselves quite strongly and round out this Wee-Heavy inspired winter seasonal. The mix of flavours is just perfect for a cold winter's night (or day).

Scottish Ale - Highlander Brew Co (Canada - Ontario - South River)

Scottish Ale - Highlander Brew Co (Canada - Ontario - South River) 5.0%

A burnt amber colour in a glass with a frothy head and good lacing. A roasty aroma of malt with a sugary glaze aspect, a touch of molasses, a bit of spice, some faint fruit esters (cherry, raisin) and a fresh-baked bread aroma: all quite appetizing.

The taste does not disappoint. Roasty but with a punch of fruit esters and light hops character that really mixes well; a touch of grain continuing the fresh-baked bread from the aroma. Highlander's Scottish Ale has low to moderate bitterness and a really nice balance between the sweetness, the bitterness and the high-flying fruit esters.