You never forget your first.
In this case, I’m referring to the first beer I made with a starting gravity higher than 1.100, which was a Strong Scotch Ale named Kopf Spalten (Head Splitter) that won a medal on its first trip out…and that I didn’t even like drinking. It was too heavy and sweet, and while it did just fine in competition, its scores didn’t really start to improve (and I didn’t really start to like drinking it) until I was able to balance out its more extreme elements while also preserving its prominent flavors and complexity. In that process, the starting gravity fell lower than 1.100, but I learned that bigger isn’t always (and, maybe, isn’t even usually) better.
Style
I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising that a beer style that goes by the alternate name “Wee Heavy” is somewhat contradictory. Scottish ales are, to say the least, capable of really showing their range. One of the strongest, most intense beer styles (Strong Scotch, or Wee Heavy) also happens to be in the same regional family as one of the lightest (Scottish 60/-). What’s really remarkable is that despite the massive difference in their gravity, they actually have quite a lot in common! Both feature some kettle caramelization notes (whether derived from actual kettle caramelization or not), low hopping levels in both bittering and flavor, and some noticeable-but-restrained esters.