Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Bottle No. 61520. ABV is 8.0%. Pitch black colour, big to moderate and creamy tan head. The whisky oak cask with peaty smoke and notes of tar comes through in the aroma, followed by notes of roastiness (roast malts, coffee) and chocolate. The aroma is more mellow and subdued than the 12 y.o., but still nice. The flavour has also here loads of rich malty sweetness, immediately followed by distinct notes of peaty smoke - it is again quite amazing what impact the whisky cask has. Dark chocolate in the middle. The finish has a firm bitterness from the hops and burnt malts, while the peaty smoke lasts through the long aftertaste. A truly impressive beer, but if you don’t like scotch whisky at all, this might not be the beer for you. Not easy drinking (somewhat smoother than the 12 y.o., though), but a great sipping beer, and a real treat for any lover of peatiness.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Bottle No. 12610. ABV is 8.0%. Pitch black colour, big tan head. The aroma of the 18 is less distinct than the 12 and 16, notes of sweet malts, almonds, brown sugar and oak, with a moderate roastiness, notes of chocolate and mild coffee. The flavour is excellent, distinct notes of whisky oak cask, peaty smoke, hints of tar, also roasted notes of coffee, liquorice and dark bitter chocolate. Well rounded, with just the right sweetness and a pleasant bitterness in the finish. Yummy!

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. ABV is 7.0%. Bottle conditioned. Mahogany coloured beer, large and lasting tan head which leaves a nice lacing. Excellent aroma with vinous notes, there’s oak, malts, rhum-raisins, treacle, some perfume too. The mouthfeel is (relatively) thinner than what the aroma makes you expect. The flavour is oaky and spicy with notes of dark fruits and caramel, but not exceedingly sweet. Dry finish. Good beer - recommended!

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

330 ml bottle, bought in Scarborough. Mahogany coloured beer, large and lasting tan head. Malty sweet aroma, notes of port wine, oak and bakery. Excellent mouthfeel, full and rich. Flavour of generous malts, caramel, dried dark fruits, moderate but noticeable hops (Goldings and Northdown), port wine finish. Fairly sweet, but not cloying. A true classic!

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Bottle No. 01232, March 2009. ABV is 8.0%. Pitch black colour, big tan head. Strong aroma of whisky cask, notes of peat, tar and vanilla. Intense but well rounded flavour of malt whisky, oak, malty sweetness, coffee and tar. Moderately bitter aftertaste.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Bottle No. 40857, January 2009. ABV is 8.0%. Pitch black colour, big tan head. Intense and lovely aroma of fine malt whisky, notes of oak and peat, hints of vanilla and dark chocolate. Strong flavour of dark malts and fine whisky, peaty and oaky notes, also notes of coffee, hints of liquorice and tar. Moderate bitterness in the finish. Pretty brilliant stuff.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

500 ml brown bottle, Vinmonopolet. Batch #46. Bottle conditioned. Dark brown colour. Huge and creamy long-lasting tan head. Pleasant aroma of roast malts, dried fruits, mild coffee and chocolate. Flavour has also plenty of roast malts, moderately sweet, with coffee and dark bitter chocolate in the long aftertaste. Good beer, but Nissefar is even better

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

500 ml bottle, bought in Scarborough. Bottle conditioned. ABV is 5.0%. Copper coloured beer with a large and lasting creamy tan head. Pleasant aroma of fruity hops and malt. Lovely malty flavour with some caramel and fruity hops. A very nice and drinkable beer indeed.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. ABV is 7.5%. Deep brown colour, large to moderate tan head. Vinous aroma, sherry, oak, raisins, dark fruits. Very rich, malty, sweet, fruity and vinous flavour. Robust and far from easy drinking - still very, very good! This must be a classic old ale - one to save for Christmas (after dinner).

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

330 ml bottle in cardboard cylinder, from Kalø Whisky & Vin. ABV is 9.0%. Dark brown to black colour, tan head. Rich and moderately roasty aroma and flavour with distinct notes of Port cask, hints of Scotch whisky.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Rerate, 750 ml bottle, batch #1759, from Vinmonopolet Jørpeland. ABV is 7.0%. Reddish amber to brown colour, moderate off-white head. Aroma of malts, some of them lightly roasted. A hint of dark berries in the background. Malty flavour, only a very moderate sweetness, some caramel. A slight fruitiness of berries helps the drinkability. Moderate but noticeable bitterness. Okay. I'm upping the score a bit. Original rating: Sample at Nærbø Ølfestival. Deep golden brown colour. Fairly roasty and malty aroma and flavour, rather dry. Will rerate when I get a full bottle, or a larger sample on tap.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

250 ml bottle, from the brewery. Batch #86. BB end of 2020. ABV is 14%. Dark brown colour, hardly any head nor any carbonation. Aroma of oak, malts, calvados and molasses. Warming mouthfeel. Very oaky and alcoholic sweet flavour, notes of calvados, brown kandij sugar and dark dried fruits. The total lack of carbonation is not to my liking.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

April 2014: Shared bottle at local tasting, from Voldby Købmandsgaard. 2012 vintage, 7.3% ABV. Weak aroma, brown malts and bread, hints of stale jam. The flavour is better than the aroma, malty with a slightly warming mouthfeel. Hints of spices. Okay, but not really impressive.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

RBESG 2006 Grand Tasting. Colour like sherry oloroso, minimal head. Sherry aroma too. Sweetish flavour with pastry notes, quite nice. The Nils Oscar Julöl (Yule/Christmas beers) seem to have a different recipe for each vintage.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

RBESG 2006 Grand Tasting. Lovely aroma of sherry and Christmas spices. Flavour is also spicy and vinous, fairly sweet. A beer to go with Christmas cookies rather than the main meal. Another fine effort from Nils Oscar.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Black (= very dark brown) colour. Interesting and unusual aroma: Ensilage, fresh mown grass, candy ("Kongen av Danmark"), hints of old ladies with a questionable personal hygiene. (Bordering on vomit, according to chris_o, but I liked it.) Flavour is grassy, citrussy, green apples. Easy drinking. Fruity finish.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bottle conditioned, 500 ml. Bought at Memorable Cheeses, Ipswich. Very dark brown colour, cloudy (I poured the yeast in). Very low head. Lovely "old" aroma of leather, oak, coffee and dark fruits. Flavour is fruity and vinegary, roast notes. Acidic finish. Not bad.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

(Cask conditioned). Guest ale in the-first-pub-you-get-to-after-crossing-Tower-Bridge-(left-side)-South-bank- of-the-Thames (you guessed it, I forgot the pub's name). Copper coloured, malty & nutty. Very tasty.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Cask at The Cricketers, Ipswich. Black colour, moderate roasted malts aroma. Flavour is all roasted and smoked malts with some faint vinegary sidenotes. Very nice.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

500 ml bottle, as "Greene King Strong Suffolk Vintage Ale", vintage 2000, sampled May 2005 at the Champion of the Thames, Cambridge. Served too cold from the fridge. Deep brown to ruby colour, large thick head. Vinous aroma, oak and claret, hints of English pipe tobacco. (One of the punters was smoking his pipe in the pub when I sampled this beer, but I swear the beer had some unsmoked pipe tobacco aroma too.) Vinous flavour (old port wine) with caramel and raisins. A bit too sweet for my taste (or maybe I was too drunk to fully appreciate the sweetness?)

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

(Cask conditioned, Northern England.) This is a very good and strong Old ale, well suited for a winter's day. One of my favourite pints! Rerate: 500 ml bottle, thanks to my beerpal Egil. ABV is 5.6%. Very dark reddish brown colour, big beige head. Nice aroma of malts (some of them apparently lightly roasted), vinous notes, dark fruits and berries. The flavour is rich and malty with just a mild roastiness, perfectly balanced by fruity hops with berry notes. Not an extreme beer in any way, other than being "extremely good".

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

(Bottle conditioned, 500 ml). Pours with an enormous fluffy lingering head. Cloudy brown colour. Aroma is alcohol, red fruits, leather, caramel and sherry. Flavour is malty with English fruitcake and Christmas pudding elements, but a substantial hoppy bitterness (nearly too much?) takes over and dominates through the long finish. Some alcoholic warmth. Good strong ale, but somehow the hop varieties used seem not to be perfectly balanced with the initial comforting sweetness.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

(275 ml corked bottle.) Bottled in 2004 ( I couldn’t wait). Dark copper colour, slightly hazy, large tan head. Intense and beguiling aroma of raspberries and blackberries, spices, oak and vintage port wine or sherry. Flavour is a bit raw in the edges, as expected for a bottle this fresh. There’s plenty of sweet (but not cloying) flavour elements of malts, caramel, raisins, plum pudding, spices and old sherry. Just enough hops to stand up to the sweetness. Warming mouthfeel - I suspect the ABV had already crept well above the stated 9%. This beer really is something special! Now, I wish I had a few more bottles available for cellaring - and the character to keep them for a few years!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Bottle conditioned, opaque black (= very dark brown), pours with a good tan head that does not last long. Surprisingly fruity and vinous complex aroma of plums / prunes with notes of seaweed, cocoa, colombian coffee and cigars. Light bodied for a stout, but very refreshing. Moderate roast coffee flavour, quite dry, moderate roast bitterness in the aftertaste, a bit short. Must be a good accompaniment with all kinds of food - not only oysters.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Cask conditioned at the Smithfield, Derby. Black (= very dark ruby) colour, low head. Prune / plum aroma. Flavour is quite fruity for a stout, but the coffee notes are there too. Decent.