Mikkeller Black Islay Edition (17.5%)

Sorry, getting really bad with my late posts at the moment. I actually had this beer last weekend, and happened to be after a decent saturday night out. Still, with a crew at Stass and Jess's place on Sunday, we had a few people to share this with, so was good to do that, seeing this beer is pretty intense.

Yes, this is one I have had before, and like with the Brewdog Tokyo, it was had after 5 other highly alcoholic and flavourful beers.

So, with it pouring like tar and having basically no head at all, we slowly sipped away at this beer like a port.

I really like the malt character in this beer and how the sense (okay, so it is a bit more than a sense) of whiskey rises from it, and with it the warming alcohol that also comes from it. Once you have spluttered through the first sip and put your eyes back into your head and given it a minute for the alcohol to rise through you and into your head, it does become a pretty enjoyable experience. I think Stass was getting a soy sauce flavour and on the midpalate, possibly where the whiskey starts to kick in. It is interesting that it was only through comparing it with other Mikkeller Black's at the Slowbeer tasting that I could realise the difference this beer has, and how much better rounded it is, and I have to say, even the first timers were picking up on the nice profile and while it is flavourful, not a massive spiking of particular flavours.

It is just a blockbuster beer, and at nearly $40 a bottle, it is not for your average beer drinker. The combination of a very intense base black beer, barrelled in intense Islay whiskey just seems to match greatly when given time to meld and mellow. Definitely more intense in flavour than the brewdog Tokyo, but still good balance of flavours (at that level of intesnity overall). After not getting any sleep the night before, and having had a few wines with Mick before having this beer, was well and truely ready for bed after it.

In more recent news, want to thank Stass and Joel for helping me do a spring clean of my beer collection last night and getting rid of some bad beers that have been hanging around in my fridge. Also, thanks to Stew for leaving a nice message for me when I got back from overseas, so had to incorporate it into the photo for this post (the little stick man is holding the beer. yay!).

Cheers,

Beefy