Etikettarkiv: island whisky review

Islands, Talisker

Talisker Distiller’s Edition 2010/2020

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ABV: 45.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and peaty. At first, there’s a mix of darker red berries and dried fruits. Behind there’s a layer of vanilla and honey with some salt and dry soil. Even further back there are some brighter fruits like green apples. The peatiness is creating a an outside layer of tobacco and woodfire smoke. A medicinal note comes through after some time in the glass.

Mouth: At first there’s a syrypy sweetness together with a touch of black pepper. The darker fruit notes are up front and after a second or two the peatiness starts to build up once again. The tobacco is present as well as the coastal salty notes. There’s some vanilla coming through as well as salted caramel. There’s a thin note of tropical fruitiness peeking through as well.

Finish: Black pepper together with the coastal notes lead way into the finish. There’s a quite noticable saltiness and it’s still got an earthy feel to it. The sherry is now a bit toned down and the fruitiness is much brighter than before with dried apricots and dried red berries. After some time the oak comes through. It’s a mild oakiness accompanied by the coastal notes all the way to the end. In the late finish the tobacco notes reappear as well as some walnuts. This is a great whisky with a nice fruity twist to an otherwise rowdy experience.

Additional information
This is basically the Talisker 10 YO finished for about a year in ex-Amaroso sherry casks. It has around 20 ppm. It’s aged for 10 years in reconstructed american ex-bourbon oak barrels before the finishing period.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker x Parlay Wilder Seas

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ABV: 48.6 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
This limited release whisky was first aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-french oak XO Cognac casks.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker Skye

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ABV: 45.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a slightly wet peatiness and a mild honey sweetness. Underneath there’s a thin peachy fruitiness. There are salty coastal notes on top. It feels slightly spirity and the whole doesn’t pop out of the glass from the start. When it starts to open up ginger and toffee arrives in the center, but it never loses the spirity feel. This is a decent nose which feels unbalanced, young and with the components in disarray.

Mouth: It starts out with the wet peatiness and a mix of tobacco and toasted bread within. There’s a hint of the toffee and fruits, but the mouth goes dry almost immidiatly and the mouthfeel isn’t the greatest. The burnt oakiness is already taking over which is a bad sign for the rest of the journey. It’s salty and the coastal notes are still sitting on top, but the mix of oak spices and the young spirity notes ramps up the oakiness even more when it sets of.

Finish: The oak makes the transisiton very spicy and dry. The other flavours doesn’t seem to be able to push through. There’s an apricot fruitiness floating around on top when it finally starts to calm down. There’s still a saltiness, but the peatiness shifts and becomes more mineraly in the late finish. The toasted oak is just too strong to make everything accessible. This is a so-and-so whisky which feels over-oaked and unbalanced.

Additional information
The Skye was released in 2015. It’s matured in a combination of refill and toasted american oak casks with a slightly higher proportion of toasted casks. It’s unchillfiltered.

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Arran Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt 10 YO – Master of Distilling Jim McTaggart’s 10th Anniversary Limited Edition

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ABV: 54.2 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is rich honey sweetness and vanilla with a minty overlay. Black liquorice and a hint of anise create depth and adds to the sweetness. A brighter fruitiness is hiding in the background. It’s quite hard to break it down but there’s some green apples and a hint of lemon. The cask influence is amazing.

Mouth: Dense sweetness and black liquorice. The high ABV creates a layer of spicy chili pepper and it comes rushing in quite fast. It rests on a base of vanilla and honey and a hint of tropical fruitiness with pineapples and lemon zest shine through. A discreet savory note sits in the back. A small note of bitterness comes through. It’s dusty and the texture is oily and thick.

Finish: First comes a spicy kick, then a chalk note. The sweetness and black liquorice return together with the tropical fruitiness. The oak comes fashionably late. It’s a very pleasant oakiness, just a smidge dry and without astringency. There’s hazelnuts coming through in the late finish. This is an absolutely fantastic whisky.

Additional information
This whisky comes from the first casks filled by James McTaggart when he started working at the Arran distillery in 2007. It’s matured in first fill american ex-bourbon oak barrels. It’s a limited edition with just 12 000 bottles released worldwide.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker 8 YO – Special Release 2021

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ABV: 59.7 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
This whisky is one of Diageo’s special releases 2021. The is no information about which casks are used. It’s bottled at natural cask strength.

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Islands, Talisker

Talisker Dark Storm

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ABV: 45,8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a deep sweetness with a fresh tropical fruitiness attached to it. There’s a nice dollop of peat which feels very integrated with the other flavours. It’s a mix of coastal notes, tobacco and leather. The charred oak comes through after a few seconds and adds vanilla and a hint of cocnut to the mix. With time in the glass the fruitiness becomes more and more noticable. This is a great nose with a lot of dimensions to it even though they all seem to fit nicely together.

Mouth: It starts out a lot less sweet. The peat is now much more dominant and rowdy with salty coastal notes as the main feature. The fruitiness is pushed back and becomes lemon and orange peel in the background. It still feels vibrant and fresh without feeling too young. In the middle there seem to be a textured and dusty vanilla with some cask char and a hint of honey floating around. There’s a spicyness slowly increasing in intensity over time as well.

Finish: The finish starts out with vanilla and oak in the back together with the orange peel bitterness. The spicyness and the peat sit on top. For the first time it doesn’t feel quite as balanced and most of the notes stay far back on the palate. The only thing happening in the later parts of the finish is that the oakiness increases in intensity and it almost feels too oaky after a while. It’s a fresh sawdust oakiness and the char notes are certainly present. The coconut flashes by briefly but it just feels like chewing on a piece of wood in the end. This is a very good whisky but it’s not without flaws. The nose is by far the best part of the journey.

Additional information
This is a travel retail exclusive release first launched in 2013. It’s aged for an undisclosed time in heavily charred oak casks.

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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg Perpetuum

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ABV: 47.4 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. A heavy layer of vanilla and an ashes from a recently burnt out campfire is dominating the first impression. The vanilla has an unscented lotion vibe to it, which isn’t a bad thing. There’s a saltiness and a medicinal note sitting somewhere in the middle. The sherry cask influence is very subtle but there is a small scent of raspberries coming through. This is very pleasant.

Mouth: The arrival is very medicinal with a touch of black pepper and a honey sweetness. After that it takes a while for the peat to create an ashy outer layer and, when it settles, a quite fruity inside. Raspberries are still dominating but there are some darker fruit notes detectable. It’s got an oily texture. Lemon, vanilla and just a hint of the oakiness come through after a few seconds without pushing any of the other flavours aside.

Finish: A burst of black pepper passes by before it returns to the ashy peat that are mixed with a nice vanilla driven oakiness and some chocolate. The lemon note still sits in the back and it’s still medicinal. The finish is complex and there are many flavours following along far down the road. The flavours somehow switch halfway down the road and the darker fruits is now creating a layer surrounding the oak, the peat and a sweet honey note. This is a beast in formal wear. Pure excellence.

Additional information
The Perpetuum was released 2015 as a 200-year celebration bottling. This is the 2020 re-release. It’s a mix of both young and very old whisky, matured in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg Corryvreckan

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ABV: 57.1 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet, slightly fruity and very peaty. Cold ashes from a burnt out woodfire is dominating the first impression. There are vanilla and, both fresh and ripe, dark berries lurking in the background. It’s got a coastal character and it’s very medicinal. The oak is coming through around the edges of the glass. The vanilla grows more pronounced over time and the fruity note seems to be leaning towards blueberries. This is a very nice complex nose.

Mouth: It starts with a sweet honey layer on top, but underneath it’s very salty and spicy. After a second or two the full peat impact comes rushing in. The peat is now a bit warmer and rounded, but it stays salty and peaty with a medicinal iodine note. A pine note is now peeking through from the back together with the vanilla. The fruitiness is also found, but it seems to bounce around between the other flavours which makes it hard to pinpoint. It still comes through as berries though.

Finish: A sharp spicyness and black pepper flare up and then the honey, vanilla and pine notes return. The fruitiness is still intertwined with the peat and the medicinal side to it becomes more pronounced. The blueberry note keeps on popping up from time to time, but when the oakiness starts to build up it slowly fades away. The oak brings dark chocolate, black coffee and more of the vanilla. The black pepper stays all the way through the finish. This is a great, complex whisky with a lot of exploring opportunities.

Additional information
The Corryvreckan was originally a committee release but it’s now a part of their core range. It’s aged in american ex-bourbon barrels, european ex-sherry casks and european ex-Burgundy red wine casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colours.

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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg 10 YO

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

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a warm, sweet, and ”wet” peatiness, like smoke from a campfire when water is thrown on it to put it out. There’s honey, vanilla and an unscented lotion note. There are also a touch of seaweed, brine and iodine. There’s a feint hint of green fruits and lemon far away in the back. This is a very nice nose. It’s not especially complex but it’s still interesting.

Mouth: It starts out with very sweet honey and vanilla, which turns into a big burst of savory smoke. The honey note lies up front and it’s carried by a black pepper spicyness, some seasalt and a touch of bitterness. The lotion note is in there bit it’s not as pronounced as on the nose. It’s a quite mineral rich peat and it’s slightly dry.

Finish: The finish starts with menthol, honey, lemon and bittersweet smoke. It’s still savory and the wet burned wood carries through. The peat is very much the main event but the honey note isn’t far behind. The oak is slightly bitter. The finish is a never-ending story with a tar note appearing when the wet oak subsides. This is a great whisky. It’s not the most complex experience but it does its job extremely well.

Additional information
This whisky was launched in the year 2000 and is the entry level in Ardbegs core range. It’s aged in both first fill and refill ex-bourbon oak barrels. The barley has 55 ppm. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Ardbeg, Islay

Ardbeg Blaaack Committee Release

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ABV: 50.7 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet peat and red berries. The initial impact is quite medicinal and rowdy. After a few seconds a sweet, rounded baseline emerges with notes of hot burning wood together with unscented lotion and vanilla cream. On top there are iodine and salty coastal notes. The fruitiness starts to come through as an outer layer and slowly takes over. It’s overripe black grapes and plums. There’s also a cooling mint effect up front. This is an interesting nose.

Mouth: At first the vanilla sweetness and the warm peatiness swells up. It’s still hot burning wood and now there’s a hay note coming through. It’s quite mild and the red wine influence has a juicy vibe to it with fresh red and black berries. There are still coastal notes and a small touch of iodine, but those are pushed back into the background. It’s slightly astringent and the oakiness shines through in the background.

Finish: A minty cloud passes by before the juicy berries and the warm peatiness return. The medicinal and coastal notes still reside in the background and the finish mirrors the mouth very well. The whole thing feels slightly subdued. The oak is fashionably late, but when it arrives it’s a very tasty nutty oakiness with hazelnuts a hint of dust on top. The overripe grapes and plums return as a thin note following along through the entire finish. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Additional information
The Blaack is a 2020 limited release exclusive to the Ardbeg committee members. It’s aged in ex-Pinot Noir wine casks from New Zealand. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park Single Cask Series Thyra Danebod – Dronning av Danmark

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ABV: 62.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
This whisky was aged in a refill puncheon for 12 years (2007-2020). This is cask no. 4939 and it’s limited to 568 bottles.

Arran, Arran Malt, Islands, Lagg

Lagg Inaugural Release 2022 Batch 1

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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 peaty and sour. At first there’s a hefty, yet slightly brittle, peatiness. Underneath lies a sweet and sour honey and lemon mix. The whole thing feels very clean and well made but it is quite simple and straight forward. There’s vanilla, and an ashy side to the peat is coming through, but not much more than that. When it starts to settle in the glass there’s oakiness slowly emerging around the edges. This is a nice nose which feels decently balanced but it lacks complexity and feels a bit boring.

Mouth: It starts out with a much bigger and powerful character compared to the nose. It’s peppery and quite bitter in the background. In the middle the peatiness feels chewy and unrefined. After a while there’s a return of the vanilla. The oakiness is pushing through strong at this point and the whole comes through as a bit unpleasant. Underneath there’s a hint of the sweet and sour notes and a thin green apple note. There’s a weird undefined note floating around in the back as well.

Finish: The spicyness shifts to become a pepparmint throughout the transition. When it settles the peat once again turns a bit brittle and has no chance against a quite strong oakiness. It feels unbalanced and the lack of age is really shining through here. There are notes of leather and hay, but all in all it’s just the oakiness which is left in the end. It’s a bland oakiness which lacks character. This is a good inaugural release which shows some promise going forward. But this as a standalone whisky is not the best thing in the world.

Additional information
This whisky is the first release from Arran’s new distillery. It was aged in ex-bourbon barrels. The PPM value is 50. 10 000 bottles was released. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park Spirit of the Bear

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
This was released in 2018 as a travel retail exclusive. It’s aged in a mix of first fill sherry-seasoned european and american oak casks and refill casks. It has a higher proportion of peated malt. It 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 Malt, Islands

The Arran Malt 12 YO – Master of Distilling II The Man With The Golden Glass

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ABV: 51.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark fruits and sweet liquorice. A veil of menthol surrounds everything at first. When it’s lifted the dark fruitiness appears. It’s a two-layered fruitiness with raisins, overripe black grapes and plums on top and a brighter layer with ripe apples and a hint of lemon underneath. The longer it stays in the glass the more a sweet liquorice note takes over. The background consists of a solid backdrop of vanilla, honey and a hint of oak. This is a very pleasant nose.

Mouth: The impact is very immidiate and the mouth fills with menthol and dark fruits. The sweet liquorice is still in there and the background still contains vanilla and honey notes. After a few seconds the fruitiness sort of makes a full 180 and becomes a lot brighter with lemon, oranges and grapefruit. There’s a speck of dust on top and it’s already a touch astringent.

Finish: The high ABV makes the menthol become really pronounced at first. When it settles it reveals a fruitiness that is even brighter than before. Even though the dark fruitiness still can be found, it’s now leaning heavily towards tropical juice with pineapples, mangos and oranges. There’s still a lemon sourness peeking through. The oak comes through quite clear, and it’s a very nutty oakiness. There’s a big hazelnut flavour and the late finish is absolutely fantastic. This is an amazing whisky.

Additional information
This expression comes from casks filled in 2006. The cask type for the first maturation period isn’t disclosed. It’s then finished in european ex-Palo Cortado sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour. It’s limited to 12 000 bottles worldwide.

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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

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, 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.

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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, 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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