Brewery: Harviestoun Brewery
Country: Scotland
ABV: 8%
Style: English Old Ale
Other Notes: Ale matured in whisky casks for a full two years. Special twelve year old reserve barrels – Highland Park

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This unique, tenth anniversary edition is aged for a full two years (three times longer than normal) in casks formerly used to mature Highland Park’s legendary 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, allowing even more whisky flavours to imbue the ale. Let’s toast a decade of barrel-aged brewing – Slainte!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.61
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 330ml foiled and capped bottle, bottle no. 09925, bottled in October 2017, and best before end of February 2021. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A clear dark brown colour with pretty much no head and only very sparse spotted lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, whisky, raisin, fig, wood, caramel, with light peat and smoke.
Taste: Watery, whisky, roasted malts, chocolate, raisin, caramel, fig, dried fruit, with light roast and smoke.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: My first impression was that the body was so light that it drank like watered down whisky. It was better after it warmed as the complexity and roastiness came out and balanced the wateriness to the point that it was ok and drinkable. I easily preferred the Special Reserve 21 version though, but I am looking forward to trying the other varieties. A heavier body would have improved this.