Sal and I stopped in at opening time to try the Ola Dubh tasting on Thursday. It certainly was an adventure.
Ola Dubh is brewed by Harviestoun Brewery in Scotland. It is their Old Engine Oil dark beer matured in casks formerly used to age Highland Park whiskies. Novare Res is offering four different versions of Ola Dubh: the 12, 18, 30 and 40. The numbers refer to the age of the whiskies formerly in the casks.
We had the Ola Dubh 12 at NERAX. I can attest that these are very expensive beers. At NERAX the 12 was wonderful, with a delightful molasses note.
Tasting the four beers tonight was a formidable exercise. Our beers arrived at varied temperatures, which made a difference. The cooler temperatures held back complexity and emphasized the whiskey notes. Things got better as the beers approached a common, room temperature.
When we arrived the 12 had not dropped yet and was a bit murky. At NERAX we also found that the 12 needed an extra day to drop.
The differences among these beers are subtle but noticeable. The 12 tasted the most like a traditional stout. The 18 showed a bit of tar and was lovely. The 30 was my favorite, very smooth. It was less complex than the 40, but seemed to present more of a beer experience than the 40. The 40 was round and mellow, and offered more of a beer-whiskey synthesis on the palate.
At $35 this is not an inexpensive experience, but it is truly unique. I doubt you’ll ever see this opportunity again. A good strategy is to take a friend and share the flight – 8 oz is a generous pour of these beers.
Enjoy!
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I wonder what would have happened if they’d used barrels first used for maturing french wine, then the Whisky, could be one of the worlds great recycling triumphs……. nice blog Jan, you do better for beer there than I do in Europe…….
April 4th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
[...] and Sal from BeerBloggers.com offer a recap of Novare Res’ Ola Dubh tasting on [...]
April 5th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I too did this flight of beers on 4/2/2009. These beers along with the dram of 15 year highland park was a wonderful experience. I was at Novare Res last night and noticed that they’ve changed this a bit. It’s now $20 for four 4oz pours of each and the dram of 15yr highland park. I’d still prefer the 8oz pours myself, since 4oz is never enough for me to establish a beer profile with.
Not sure how much longer these will be around, but I’m surprised not more people have taken advantage of it!
June 10th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
I was there a few weeks ago when they were clearing out the last of it. $5 a pint for the 12, 18, and 30 year! It was amazing.