Tag Archives: scottish ale

Black Cuillin

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Here’s how far behind I am on my drinking: A dear friend brought this back from her trip to the U.K. in August. How sad is that?

This is from Isle of Skye.

They say:

A distinctive dark ale brewed with roast barley and rolled roast Scottish oatmeal, giving an almost stout-like bitterness, smoothed through the addition of pure Scottish heather honey. It is believed that this is the only ale, as distinct from stout, which uses rolled roast oatmeal.

Chocolatey brown with a thick, fairly creamy head the color of a cappuccino. In the aroma I get a bit of fruitiness, maybe a bit of vanilla. There’s just the faintest bit of roastiness in the flavor. It’s not as smooth as I expected (it having oats in the grain bill) but the honey is subtle. It’s hard to pigeonhole. I rather like it, though. And it’s only 4.5% ABV, so I won’t feel bad about drinking the whole 500ml bottle by myself.

Thanks Ellen!

Blaven

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A dear friend brought this back from her trip to the U.K. I certainly haven’t seen it in any of my local retailers. Heck, I don’t know that I’ve seen anything from Isle of Skye.

They say:

The strongest of the regular Skye ales, Bla Bheinn, the blue mountain, is a deep golden ale, malty and full-bodied, with a fruity, hoppy character and a delightful Fuggles hop aroma. Originally a winter ale, now available all year round due to demand.

It pours a nice clear golden color with an off-white head a couple fingers’ thick.
Slightly fruity aroma which reminds me of a not-quite-ripe peach. It has a big body but only about 5% ABV which is a little surprising. As it warms I’m getting a hint of vanilla.

This is pretty good; I’m glad it made it over the Atlantic.