Malt Whisky Trail

Malt Whisky Trail

Innis & Gunn

Edinburgh, Scotland

This limited-edition ale was matured in casks from the five malt whisky regions of Scotland.

ABV: 7.4

ABW: 5.92

COLOR: 20.3

BITTERNESS: 22

ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1070

AVAILABLE: UK

The Edinburgh-based company is one of the pioneers of oak-aged beer. This beer is a “heavy,” a traditional Scottish ale, and it’s the result of blending a sample from each of the whisky casks. It’s bright amber/red in color with a big hit of tangerine fruit on the nose with honey malt and hints of butterscotch, oak, vanilla and delicate spicy hops. Smoky malt and oak dominate the palate with orange/tangerine fruit, light hop notes and a continuing hint of butterscotch. The finish starts bittersweet but becomes dry with smoky malt, tangy fruit and a developing hop note.
- Roger Protz

If you’re expecting big, pungent oak or heady whisky notes, this pale chestnut-colored ale is probably not the beer for you. If, on the other hand, you appreciate alcohol kept well under control, with just a teasing waft of spirit, it may well float your boat. Very clean and full of flavor, this is a notably sweet and fruity beer—strawberries and cream in a glass, with toffee notes underneath and a little whisky floating on top. It’s only in the increasingly bitter finish that the drying tanginess of oak comes into play. Definitely a beer to pair with desserts.
- Jeff Evans

Roger Protz
Author of 300 Beers to Try Before You Die and 300 More Beers to Try Before You Die. Respected beer authority and editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide and www.protzonbeer.co.uk.

Jeff Evans
Jeff Evans is author of the Good Bottled Beer Guide, The Book of Beer Knowledge and Beer Lover’s Britain. More of his writing can be found at www.insidebeer.com.