Kategoriarkiv: Arran

Arran, Islands

Arran Quarter Cask – The Bothy

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ABV: 56.2 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and spicy. At first there’s a sweet honey and vanilla layer with oak spices on top. The oakiness is present from the start which brings coconut to the mix as well. Underneath is a zesty lemon note and after a while it’s joined by a mix of yellow fruits like mangos and peaches. The sweetness and the spicy oak is the main event though and it lacks a bit of balance overall. There’s not much complexity to it. It does settle a bit with time in the glass. This is a very nice nose, but the oak is a bit too protruding.

Mouth: It starts out with a spicy oakiness around the edges and a nice fruit mix in the back. The sweetness with vanilla, coconut and honey sits in the center. There’s a savory note in the back and somewhere in the middle a gritty note floats around and makes the whole a lot more interesting and adds complexity to the experience. The fruits are more sour and a bit bitter at this point, with lemon zest as the main note. The spicyness increases over time and adds a nice power-up.

Finish: The fruitiness comes crashing in and delivers a very nice mix of tropical fruits. It’s still mangos, lemons and peaches and now they get to shine for a couple of seconds before the oakiness takes over once again. It’s still packed with oak spices and coconut. It’s not as sweet as before and the main focus is on the oak. It once again becomes unbalanced and the late finish is a woodshop oakiness which comes through as a bit dry. It’s not bad at all, but it obscures the fantastic flavours behind it. After a while the coconut returns as well. This is a very good whisky and you get what the label suggests; A fantastic distillate overrun by small casks.

Additional information
This whisky was aged first fill ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in american oak quarter casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

Arran 10 YO

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ABV: 46 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and sour. At first there’s a nice and rich honey, malt and vanilla layer up front with sour lemons and oranges underneath. There’s a nice top note of a fresh cooling mint even though the whole thing comes through as dense and slightly dusty. It’s very complex and the background is made up by several notes like charcoal, sour dough bread and a hint of iodine. This is a fantastic nose with a lot of things to discover. It feels very homogenous even though there are a lot of things floating around within.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet honey and vanilla mix in the center with the citrus fruits residing out on the edges. It’s still malty and textured and the sweet and sour contrast works together and makes it both dense and refreshing at the same time. The complex mix of flavours are still found within. Charcoal, salt and sour dough bread especially. The oakiness starts to make itself known at this point and adds another dimension to the array of flavours.

Finish: The transition seems very logical and everything sort of melts together and after a second or two it creates a lemon and honey cake. It’s got a dessert-like quality to it. It’s still a bit dusty and there’s still a bit of charcoal left behind. The oakiness adds some tropical fruit notes on top as well as a dry, yet fresh, oaky layer in the background. When most of the flavours starts to fade out the oak, the sour lemon and the tropical fruits stay behind. This is a fantastic whisky with an almost perfect balance between contrasting flavours and sensations.

Additional information
This 10 YO is part of the Arran core range. There’s no information to be found about the cask type(s). It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

Arran Amarone Cask Finish

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark and sweet. At first there’s a honey and vanilla sweetness with a dark fruitiness sitting just behind. There’s a mix of sugared blackberries, black grapes and a twist of lemon. On top there’s a cloud of mild menthol. With time in the glass it becomes a bit sweeter with toffee and a hard to pinpoint floral note floating around in the back. It continuously changes but never strays from the main path. This is a great nose with a lot of things to Discover.

Mouth: It starts out with a big hit of honey sweetness and dark berries. It’s very rich and textured from the get-go. There’s also a bitter lemon note as well as a gritty layer in the back with notes of wood, sulfur and rubber. After a while there’s a tropical fruitiness emerging from the back which slowly moves towards the center. There’s a complexity to the whole thing and it feels very three-dimensional. All of the sensations are coming through to a various degree.

Finish: The finish starts out with the red wine dark fruitiness in the back and it sort of grows bigger and bigger in a forward motion. The sweetness ,the menthol and a sprinkle of dusty earth notes come through as well. It takes a few seconds before the gritty notes and the tropical fruitiness once again join in. The bitter lemon is still residing in the back. The oakiness arrives late and never takes over. It just seem to create another layer of complexity. This is a fantastic whisky with an array of complex flavours floating around.

Additional information
This is part of the Arran Wine Cask Finish series. It’s aged for around 8 years in traditional ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in Amarone red wine casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

Arran Small Batch – Heavily Peated Sherry Casks

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 3
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark fruits and peat. At first there’s a layer of sweet dark fruits with raisins, overripe plums and coffee liqeuer. On top lies a thin fresh oakiness and underneath lies a peat note and a sweet and sour mix of fresher fruits. Soon the peat starts to merge with the dark fruits and it’s creating tobacco and leather notes within. When it’s settled it becomes sweeter and vanilla and honey are added to the mix. This is a great nose. It’s young and lively but offers a pretty good balance between the flavour components.

Mouth: It starts out with a sour note in the back and a dark fruits and coffee mix up front. It’s quite spicy from the start. It hasn’t got a sweet character. The peat is creating a somewhat weird layer around the edges together with the sour note, which now is coming through as bitter lemon peel. It’s a lot brighter compared to the nose and the Arran house style shines through clearly. There’s a lot of sensations peaking at the same time and it’s a bit hard to navigate through it.

Finish: The spicyness flare up through the transition while the sweet vanilla and dark fruits move towards the edges. Left in the middle is a mix of fresher assorted fruits and sour bitter lemon. The peat is in there as well but it’s not the main attraction. A savory note pops up in the back together with the oakiness. It’s a very fresh and uninteresting oak which lacks a bit of character. This is a very good whisky but it lacks a bit of structure and balance. It’s just a big pile of flavours stacked upon each other. It still makes it a great experience overall.

Additional information
This whisky is a Sweden exclusive release. It’s aged for at least 7 years in heavily saturated ex-Oloroso sherry casks. It’s nicknamed ”The Crazy Swede”. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

Arran Port Cask Finish

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there are assorted dark red berries and vanilla along with a thin cooling mint layer on top. Underneath lies a subtle but nice earthy layer of dry soil and herbs. There are also a honey and liquorice sweetness somewhere in between. Both increase in intensity over time and it ends up quite sweet. This is a fantastic nose which feels like it’s gentle but extremely volyminous when it’s allowed to open up in the glass.

Mouth: It starts out with a heavy impact of dark fruits and berries together with honey sweetness. A peppery spicyness accompanies it as well as a quite gritty and roudy background with a mix of very dark and ripe fruits, anise and a hint of sulfur, oil and soil. There’s also a hint of dust and dried fruits floating around. A light and floral note is in the as well. It feels very rich and has a nice texture. The flavour impact is impressive.

Finish: It starts out peppery with an even mix of sweetness, dark fruits and the earthy and dirty notes. The impact is immediate. It’s not as sweet as before but there’s now room for additional dried fruits like raisins and nectarines. A hint of lemon peeks through as well. Everything seem intertwined with the dark ripe berries to create a very nice whole. The oak makes a nice entrance from back to front and it’s a very potent oakiness with walnuts, mild coffee and even a sort of savory note on the tail end. This is just a fantastic whisky.

Additional information
This is part of the Arran’s range of wine finishes. It’s aged in refill casks for 8 years then finished in ex-port pipes. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Islands

Arran Sauternes Cask Finish

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and sour. At first there’s a thick layer of sweetness with honey, vanilla and sweet, green grapes sitting on top of a mix of fresh lemon and tropical fruits. There are pineapple, mango and passion fruit notes within the fruitiness. It feels rich and there’s a spicyness somewhere out towards the edges and it comes from a fairly fresh oakiness. There’s also a salty caramel floating around somewhere on top. This is a very nice nose. It’s not complex and it’s a bit too sweet, but it still feels decently balanced.

Mouth: It Starts out with sweet green grapes and gooseberries and a sweet honey and vanilla richness. Behind the sweetness there’s lemon in the back, now with a bit of zesty bitterness. The tropical fruits can still be found as well. There’s a slight dustiness, some malt and a pinch of salt in the center. It very much has a white wine aura from the finishing casks. After a while a quite complex mix of savory and sour starts to arise in the background and it has a gritty note attached to it. A mild spicyness builds up around the edges for those who wait.

Finish: The spicyness slowly intensifies and it doesn’t take long before the whole array of flavours follow. The tropical fruits gets to shine but they do have the lemon zest in the background as back-up. The front of the palate consists of the honey and vanilla sweetness, but it feels slightly more generic at this point. It’s a long finish and when the flavours start to fade the oak, lemon and spicyness stays behind and gives it a very nice send of. The oak is competent and brings a nice coconut flavour to the late finish. This is a great whisky. It’s a little bit too sweet but overall gives a nice journey throughout.

Additional information
This whisky was aged for around 6 years in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished for 8-12 months in Sauternes wine barriques. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt St. Emilion Grand Cru Classe Wine Cask Finish (2008 Vintage)

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and sweet. At first there’s a mix of red ripe grapes and ripe plums with a fresher blueberry note attached. There’s also vanilla mixed with a sweet and sour maltiness. The fruitiness sort of releases the fresher parts which after a while start to float on top. Underneath everything else there’s a black coffee bitterness and a smidge of milk chocolate. The vanilla moves out on the edges and leaves room for even more fresher fruits with a fleeting glimpse of peaches and mangoes somewhere on top. This is a nice nose. It’s not as well balanced and appealing as other Arrans tends to be though.

Mouth: It starts out with a lemon sourness in the back and a big peppery impact coming from the high ABV. It’s dusty and there’s a dark fruitiness and black coffee spreading out over the palate. There’s no sweetness and it’s a very hard to access arrange of flavours. There’s a nutty oakiness peeking through and the milk chocolate has turned into a bitter dark chocolate. After a while the sweet and sour Arran house style shines through which really makes the experience a lot better.

Finish: The transition is slightly weird, where the spicyness somewhat increases in intensity but the rest is just a mess of flavours which sort of brings out a strange funky taste. It’s quite spirity at this point as well. When all the weirdness subsides there are notes of toffee, ripe fruits and a slightly nutty oakiness with coffee and walnuts. It just feels a bit too bitter and unbalanced. This is a good whisky, but it really doesn’t measure up to the normal quality of Arran Single malts.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in ex-bourbon barrels for 8 years and then finished in grand cru wine casks for 12 months. 6636 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

Arran 1998 (Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseur’s Choice)

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

See the queue here.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 1998 and bottled in 2007 which makes it ~ 9 YO. It’s aged in refill ex-sherry hogsheads.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

Arran 15 YO Rare Batch – French Oak: Bordeaux

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ABV: 52.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a menthol layer sitting on top of a sweet and fruity layer which consists of vanilla and liqeuer-soaked red berries. In the background there’s a small, dark and gritty complexity which consists of raisins, oil and just a hint of sulfur. When it settles it becomes sweeter and slightly sour. The lemon note can be found as a part of the center and in the back. The whole thing is a bit laid back and doesn’t pop out of the glass, but it still comes through as quite easy to access. This is a great nose with a little bit of everything nicely put in its place.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet shell of coconut and vanilla. It’s a big contrast between the richness of the nose compared to the initial impact in the mouth. It’s immidiately rich and complex and there’s too much going on to really describe what’s happening. There’s a mix of fresh fruits, lemon, dark fruits and everything sits in a nice, floral vanilla and lemon center part. There’s also the oily and gritty note within, as well as notes of age, like dust, old wood and leather. It almost feels slightly smoky as well. It’s just an absolutely amazing experience at this point.

Finish: At the start of the transition the dusty notes move first and take seat on top. There’s a surge of spicyness which for the first time reveals its high ABV. It does hide some of the other flavours for a while before it starts to fade. The coconut is still in there and sits together with the dust and the floral notes on top of everything else. The center part is very sweet and fruity but it’s now moving towards the sour lemon note. The finish is long and it sort of sits in this manner for a good while without any changes. When it finally fades it reveals a slightly bitter and dry oakiness which feels slightly underwhelming. This is a great whisky with a fantastic middle part of the journey. It’s an explorer’s dram through and through.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in french oak casks which previously held red wine from The mêdoc region north of Bordeaux. 2580 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

Arran 15 YO Rare Batch – French Oak: Argonne

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ABV: 53.5 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and spicy. At first there’s a spicy layer floating on top of a very sweet mix of vanilla, sweet liquorice, honey and dark fruits. It’s a very rich center part and it’s almost sticky sweet. There’s a complex note floating around somewhere in the back which seems to come from the wine casks. There are some blueberry notes attached to it. It takes a long time for it to settle in the glass and when it does there are floral notes floating up to the surface as well as cinnamon and lemon. This is a very nice nose which feels slightly secretive on what to expect of the rest of the journey.

Mouth: It starts out with a very sweet initial impact. The ABV spicyness comes through quite fast and almost immidiately balances out the sweetness. There are notes of old bookshelves in the background with a speck of dust on top. It’s dry and astringent at this point. After a few seconds there’s a sour lemon note revealing itself in the background which really helps it along and makes it a lot more interesting. The fruitiness now feels a bit more fresh and bright than on the nose but it still feels a bit toned down.

Finish: The start of the finish brings all kinds of fresh fruits with mango, pineapple, lemon as well as blueberries and red berries. There are floral notes on top and the lemon note is residing in the background. There are vanilla and honey notes and the book shelves are still in there. When all the sweet flavours start to fade a sprinkle of salt, cinnamon and a very nice oakiness start to take over. It’s a slightly nutty and astringent oak and it fits the other flavours very well. This is a great whisky with a lot to offer, yet it somehow feels like a slightly incomplete experience.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in french oak casks which previously held still wine from Argonne. 3060 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt The Devil’s Punch bowl Chapter II: Angels and Devils

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ABV: 53.1 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet, sour and slightly peaty. At first there’s a mix of honey and vanilla sitting on top of a base of sour candy, raisins, raspberries and a gritty note with peat mixed into it. On top a mix of nail polish remover and menthol is floating around. After a while the vanilla and a malty note increase in intensity, and so do the sherry notes, which adds butterscotch and strawberries. This makes the peatiness move out towards the edges and a chance for the oak to peek through. This is a great and complex nose which retains the Arran house style very well even though it has some unique and strong flavours from the casks.

Mouth: It starts out very sweet with vanilla, coconut and honey, but the sour side isn’t far behind. There’s a tropical fruit basket arriving in the back while a nice black pepper spicyness spreads out over the palate. In between there’s a fresh red fruitiness and some baking spices, butterscotch and malt. It’s got a quite savory background note and a slightly salty overtone. It feels very balanced and the different sensations goes well together. The oakiness is present throughout.

Finish: The sweet and sour notes really push through and takes the tropical fruitiness along. There are cinnamon and oak around the edges and there’s a speck of dust somewhere within. The peatiness is nowhere to be found at this point. When it settles the sherry notes once again come through and they’re pushed back a bit and have more of the fresh berries than the butterscotch now. The finish is long and extremely rewarding. The oakiness shows up together with the peat. It’s an aromatic oakiness with hazelnuts which feels attached to the cinnamon note and the tropical fruits. The peat is nicely balanced to add to the mix instead of taking over. This is an amazing whisky with too many flavours, sensations and small notes to describe them all.

Additional information
This whisky is a vatting of 27 casks (17 sherry hogsheads and 10 ex-bourbon barrels. The different casks holds whiskies, both peated and unpeated, distilled between 1994 and 2004. It was bottled 2013. 6660 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt Finished in a Rum Cask

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ABV: 57.6 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and spicy. At first there’s a layer of vanilla, coconut and sweet fruits underneath a cloud of nail polish remover. When it settles it becomes sweeter and fruitier as well as a bit more acidic. It feels young and vibrant. It takes a while in the glass before it reaches its full potential and when it does, there’s a nice complexity in the back and a nice balance between sweet and sour in the center. At this point the sherry fruitiness, with liqueuer-soaked red berries as its main feature, is creating a thin outside layer towards the edges of the glass. This is a great nose when given time to open up.

Mouth: It starts out with a mix of sweet and dusty vanilla, coconut and a nice powerful, yet pleasant, spicyness. It’s acidic overall and has a lemon sourness which contrasts the sweet flavours. The sherry notes are somewhat subdued and resides in the background together with the sour notes and an elusive cinnamon note. There’s also a small bitterness floating around. It’s not the most interesting development and it feels like the different components compete for attention instead of adding to the whole.

Finish: The transition is very logical. The sweetness increase in intensity as well as the spicyness. It’s not spikes, it’s more of a slow increase. The fruitiness then arrives around the edges and it’s a general fruitiness without any specific recognizable sorts. It still feels more like a fight between components than a cohesive character. The bitterness is still in there and it slowly turns into walnuts. The late finish is a very nutty and frankly amazing oakiness and becomes the best part of the journey. This is a very good whisky, but it feels a bit over-engineered.

Additional information
This is a single cask release. It was aged in an ex-sherry cask and then finished in a rum cask and bottled in 2004. The bottle reviewed has no. 96/260. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Islands

Arran The Smuggler’s Series Volume 1 – The Illicit Stills

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ABV: 56.4 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and slightly peated. At first there’s a vanilla, honey and sweet liquorice mix sitting on top of a mild herbal peat and some fresh red berries. When it settles it becomes maltier and a vanilla fudge note comes through in the center. There’s a squeeze of lemon and a slight dustiness in the background as well as a gritty note, which gives the whole a nice complexity. There’s also a hint of nail polish remover floating around on top. The peatiness resides after a while and becomes more of a floaty top note. This is a great nose with a lot of nice, small things to discover.

Mouth: It starts out with a honey sweetness up front and a quite strong sour lemon in the back. The spicyness is strong at first but once it settles reveals a very funky mix of herbal peat, rubber, dark ripe fruits and leather sitting together with vanilla fudge in the center. There’s also a savory note in the background and a mild bitter black coffee note close by. It feels slightly dusty, complex and interesting but the spicyness interfers with the exploration. It gives it a nice powerful character though.

Finish: The spicyness carries over without any spikes and very generously lets everything through early on. There’s still a nice contrast between sweet and sour as the main feature while the ripe dark notes and the herbal peatiness merges and creates the same complexity found earlier. It’s still dusty and the sweet liquorice note returns at this point. When it starts to fade out the lemon note comes forward together with a newfound oakiness. The oak feels like a mix of old and new. There’s a slightly bitter walnut note which lingers when everything else die down. This is a very good whisky which feels like it’s trying to be everthing at once, which results in a disarray of flavours.

Additional information
This whisky was released in 2015. This is made from both peated and unpeated distillates. It was aged in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels and ex-port pipes for an undisclosed amount of time. 8700 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Islands

Arran The Smuggler’s Series Volume 3 – The Exciseman

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ABV: 56.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and spicy. At first there’s a sweetness coming through behind a quite powerful ABV spicyness. It takes a while in the glass for it to open up and first out is vanilla on the outside and ripe grapes and and a sticky sweetness in the center. A fresh oakiness and spices are floating around as well. In the background there are notes of ginger, lemon and oranges which makes it very three-dimensional. The whole feels very much like a mix of old and new. This is a very nice nose but it takes a good while in the glass before it delivers most of the flavours.

Mouth: It starts out quite mild and sweet before the ABV kicks in. First through is a dark note with blackberries, pipe tobacco and sweetend coffee. There are notes of vanilla and fresh oak and underneath lies notes of dust and leather. After a few seconds it becomes floral and violets join up together with apricots to create a very nice floaty top layer. There’s a savory note in the back and it sits there together with the fresh oak note. There are a lot of sensations happening all at once and it somehow works very well.

Finish: The transition begins with another ABV spike, it’s powerful but it doesn’t attack the palate. After it settles it’s once again delivers blackberries and tobacco as well as the violets and apricots. The coffee note is now more bitter than before which is good because the fruitiness and the vanilla needs it to create balance. When it starts to settle there’s a beautiful mix of old and new oak coming through. It delivers vanilla, coconut, cinnamon, oak spices, sawdust, dust and hazelnuts all at once. There’s even a hint of bananas in there. This is a great whisky and it’s a wild one. It delivers a huge array of flavours in a quite chaotic way.

Additional information
This whisky was released in 2017. It was aged in a mix of quarter casks and ex-Madeira casks for an undisclosed amount of time. 8700 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and sour. At first there’s a thin sweet layer of honey and vanilla. Underneath there’s a lemon sitting side by side to a savory note. It feels young and lively without being ethanol driven and metallic. Over time the sweet and sour notes seem to merge but the lemon sourness is dominating. The savory note stays in the background. A liquorice note slowly arrives around the edges and an oakiness creates a thin top note. This is a nice and straight forward nose. It’s a bit too mild it feels a bit unbalanced.

Mouth: It starts out very mild and sweet and first out is a rather flat vanilla note. After a second or two the sour note arrives but it stays in the back. There’s a lot of the distillate coming through. There’s a spicyness, yet extremely mild, coming from a the oakiness, which sits in the center together with a now more rich vanilla and a slight dustiness. It feels a bit uninteresting at this point.

Finish: The oak steps forward early in the transition and the sour lemon note steps forward from the start. It’s dusty and sweet with the honey and vanilla. It’s still mild and it never really takes off. The oak spices are still in there though. When the oakiness takes over it reveals a fresh woodshop oakiness. It’s slightly astringent but mostly it comes through as a generic oak note. This is a good whisky but it is a bit too mild and unbalanced to be really interesting.

Additional information
There is not much information to be found about this whisky. It’s an older NAS release from the distillery. It has natural colour.

Arran, Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt Non-Chillfiltered

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ABV: 46 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and sour. At first there’s a sweet layer of malt, honey and vanilla wrapped around a sour green apple and lemon core. There are hints of gooseberries in there as well. It feels young and fresh without being ethanol driven or metallic. When it settles there are notes of freshly cut grass and vanilla cream added to the whole. It’s a lemony dessert which feels well balanced between the sensations. A hint of sweet liquorice and a mild oakiness are detectable as well. This is a great nose. It’s not complex, but really pleasant.

Mouth: It starts out with a hit of lemon in the back together with a mild spicyness and a slightly bitter note. The sweetness then arrives and makes it quite rich. There are still notes of honey, vanilla and liquorice. The fruitiness is mostly citrus fruits at this point and it’s slightly subdued by the sweetness. It doesn’t feel young and there are signs of time spent in the casks. It’s a slightly dusty dessert-like character which feels very balanced and poised.

Finish: The spicyness mellows out and a fruit explosion ensues. There’s citrus fruits, tropical fruits and gooseberries in spades and it’s a very nice surprise, yet it feels quite logical. The sweetness moves out towards the sides and it just seems to grow the further down the road it goes. When the oakiness arrives it seems to amplify the fruitiness even further and when it finally gets to shine it manages to produce a fantastic nuttiness with mainly hazelnuts. This is a fantastic whisky which just gives more and more the longer it goes. There’s not a lot of complexity but it’s just absolutely delicious.

Additional information
There is not much information to be found about this whisky. It’s an older NAS release from the distillery. It’s unchillfiltered has natural colour.

Arran, Islands

Arran The Smuggler’s Series Volume 2 – The High Seas

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ABV: 55.4 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and slightly peaty. It starts out with a sweet layer of vanilla, honey and coconut. Underneath lies a nail polish remover note and a mild earthy peat. When it starts to settle in the glass the nail polish remover mixes with the vanilla and becomes like a minty piece of candy. It becomes maltier and a bit peatier over time. There is a fruity side to it but it’s somewhat hidden by the other flavours. When it shows, it’s a whiff of peaches as a top note. This is a nice but slightly sharp nose with a nice development in the glass.

Mouth: It starts out with a juniper note and soon becomes quite peppery. The sweetness mixes with a bitter tang in the center and while the peatiness builds up in the back. There’s a savory note in the back as well as some seasalt. It soon becomes slightly astringent and oaky. The peach note and the coconut are still in there but gets overrun by the spicyness quite quick. It’s feels a bit double-edged where one side feels young and rough while the other is aged and delivers dusty notes and leather.

Finish: The peppery notes spike as the dusty and fruity notes finally make a real appearance. It’s lemon (with a metallic note) on the outside and peaches, now attached to a dusty wood note in the back. The peat is still savory and resides on top of the palate. The sweetness is generic sugar sweetness mixed up in everything else and it’s very toned down. It still is a bit salty in the finish and stays that way while the oakiness takes over with the peach note still attached to it. It’s a nice mixed oakiness with a bitter note and some vanilla still in there. This is a very good, yet very weird, whisky. It’s both amazing and mediocre all mixed up in one.

Additional information
This whisky was released in 2016. It was aged in a mix of first fill ex-bourbon barrels and ex-rum casks (with peated whisky) for an undisclosed amount of time. 8700 bottles were released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Arran, Islands

Arran The Explorer’s Series Volume 4 – Drumadoon Point

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ABV: 49.5 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a layer of dried fruits and red berries with cinnamon and vanilla mixed in. It’s raisins and raspberries, but when it settles in the glass it becomes more of a sweet and sour mix with mixed baking spices and lemon peel. Underneath lies a complexity and rich background with notes of age as well as a spicy oakiness. There are a lot of tiny fleeting notes passning by along the way like ginger, oranges and freshly cut grass. It feels extremely balanced and well made. This is a fantastic nose with a clear direction, yet it goes off script and produces nice little surprises here and there.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet and spicy mix of malt, vanilla and a row of dusty old books. The sweet and sour mix is very much the main focal point with lemon peel and fresh raspberries as a contrast to the sweetness. It feels oily and has a great depth and texture to it. It almost feels savory at times. The oakiness follows along in the background and creates a nice amount of background noise to create a base for the other flavours to stand on. There’s a nice bitterness coming through. The whole basically gives all the sensations a run for their money.

Finish: A gentle spicyness oversees the transition while the malty sweetness and the lemon peel once again creates a rich and oily center core. It still is quite complex and there still are a lot of small nudges to other fruits and spices. The oakiness is residing around the edges with a bitter nuttiness and a spicyness attached to it. The flavour profile stays in the mouth for a very long finish and the oakiness bides its time and prolongs it even further. This is just pure magic. It’s a fantastic whisky and it doesn’t get much better than this in the unpeated category.

Additional information
This is the fourth release in the Explorer series. It’s limited to 9000 bottles worldwide. It has been aged in ex-sherry puncheons directly from Jerez, Spain which probably means first fill. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Arran, Islands

The Arran Malt 21 YO – Limited Edition Exclusively Bottled for Sweden

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ABV: 52.5 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. The first thing to come through is a mild vanilla sweetness together with liquorice and assorted dried fruits. It’s a gentle nose and it’s not popping out of the glass. After a few minutes it grows a tiny bit more confident and start to deliver a bigger array of nuances with black currant, ripe red berries and a slightly gritty background. A menthol note is also present. It feels quite young and lively for its age and the distillate is really showing through. It becomes a bit sweeter over time but it’s the fruitiness which is the main note. This is a great nose if it gets a lot of time in the glass.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet and dusty malt note in the center. There’s a fresh sour fruitiness coming through around the edges which develops into a mix of red and black berries. A black coffee bitterness and an oak note build up in the back. There’s a mild black pepper spicyness sprinkled in as well. The sweetness subsides and it becomes quite complex after a few seconds when an earthy note gets added to the center. The fruitiness is not as pronounced at this point and still resides at the edges.

Finish: The finish starts out with the dusty note in the center and the sweet malty note up front. It then turns up the volume on everything else and gives a nice push of spicy pepper, liquorice and a black coffee bitterness. The vanilla is still in there as well as the berries. When everything subsides, all that remains is a slightly bitter and dusty oakiness, which isn’t the greatest end to an otherwise pleasant journey. This is a great whisky with both ups and downs throughout.

Additional information
This is a single cask release. It’s aged in an ex-sherry hogshead. It was distilled in 1996 and bottled in 2017. Cask no. 187. The bottle tried has no. 15 out of 327.

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