Old Engine Oil by the Harviestoun Brewery is a little bit of a secret among beer folks. This award-winning old ale is as black as black can be. Hold it up to the light in your beer glass and the light can’t even penetrate it, hence the name. (Beer spies have reported that you can get it on tap at the Rocket Club in West Asheville.)

Fans of this brew will celebrate today as the new Harviestoun series, Ola Dubh, arrives. By pairing up with the Highland Park distillery in Scotland, they’ve created three very small batches of Old Engine Oil aged in whiskey casks that were used to mature Highland Park 12-year, Highland Park 16-year, and Highland Park 30-year. Looks like more batches and years will be added later.

From B. United:

With more than a stylistic nod to the classic Imperial Porters (and Stouts) of the nineteenth century, this deliciously rich, dark, 8% a.b.v. beer is the first ale to be aged in malt whisky casks from a named distillery and, with traceable casks and numbered bottles, the rest with genuine provenance. … Although lighter in body than its appearance suggests, Ola Dubh is pithy, oily, salty and bitter on the palate. The nish is exceptional; burnt and bitter notes with an interplay of late hop characters, orange oil, fruity tartness and then delicate, fragrant smoke.

These are splurgers, but most definitely worth every penny.