Arran Cask Strength 12 Year Batch 3

Stop number 27 on the SDT is The Isle of Arran. This distillery is part of the Islands region. This version of the 12 year cask strength is Batch #4, which was bottled in September of 2014 and comes in at 54.1% ABV. It is natural color of amber gold and is non chill filtered. Initially on the nose there is an alcohol burn, but that's cask strength for you. It settles down to reveal warm citrus notes and orchard fruits. Apricots, pears, oranges, tangerines. Also some darker sherried fruits like raisins, dates and sweet syrup. Definitely some rich oak spices, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. More sweetness comes in with brown sugar, vanilla, toffee and a light maltiness. Strangely I picked up on peanut shells and a bit of earthiness, possibly a sign of some light peating. Towards the bottom of the glass I got a sweet cotton candy note, not unlike a bourbon. It takes more time and patience to pick out flavors in a cask strength whisky, but it's a good challenge. The palate starts off with a nice peppery punch up front. Orchard fruits, mostly apricots, tangerines and plums. Some oak with cinnamon and brown sugar. It was hard to get much else due to the heat. Full bodied mouthfeel. Oily, mouthwatering and a bit hot but not too bad. The finish is long, spicy but sweet, like sherried peppers if that was a thing. This is a very good cask strength scotch. Compared to the Springbank 12 year CS and the Glendronach CS it's much more forgiving and easier to pick out the flavors. Still, it doesn't let you forget that it too is cask strength. No real peat/smoke to speak of, which is something I expect from Island distilleries. This is my first from Arran and it was good. I suspect their standard bottlings would take on a more traditional Highland profile. A solid 4. Thanks to Scott for the sample. Cheers

[Batch #4 / Sep 2014 / 53.2%] Arran is not the first scotch you conjure up when you think Island whiskies. How smokey is this (it’s must be peaty, right?) How briny is this one? This Arran is cask strength and labeled as Non-chilled filtered and natural color. A nosing of this simply reveals dried apricots, oranges and hazelnuts. Given plenty of time and I could not further detect much more. The opening is light and faint with little depth. With the minimal setup by the nose, the question looms: how weak with the palate be? A medium-dense body delivers more than the nose. The sherry influence of baking spices and nuts are the core flavors. Cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and walnuts. Several more sips reveals dates and baker’s chocolate. The bourbon influence is also detectable of dark brown sugar and vanilla, though not strong. The two barrel-influenced flavors interplay works well. The finish is slightly orange-bitter/orange zest with drying oak with ground cinnamon. A deep, warming whisky. Add a liberal dose of water which creates a great scotch mist. It also weakens the bitterness allowing the sweeter side of the dram to come through. Much improved. For a cask strength, this is surprisingly tame. There is burn, but it’s tolerable. A soft, sweet simple nose and a nutty and spicy, somewhat flavorful palate creates a dichotomy between the two senses. This is a perfect on a brisk, autumn evening with the Thanksgiving spices warming the soul. [Dry Glass: Toasted Marshmallows][$65][87/100][Tasted: 8/19/17]

It's been awhile since I reviewed an island region single malt. Thanks to our distillery tour group I was offered up this cask strength from the Isle of Arran. It's the 12 year old version and was generously supplied by my friend Scott. This is the 4th batch of this particular vintage and was released in 2014 and comes in at a whopping 54.1% ABV. I've let this one sit and given it the occasional swirl for over 30 minutes. I'm trying to let the overwhelming power of the alcohol drift away so I can see if there's something deeper I can detect on the nose. I pick up hints of citrus fruits and a nice, heavy scent of vanilla. Breathing in deeply only results in the agonizing burn of this cask beast. The palate is refreshing and tangy up front before stepping aside and letting the vanilla and sherry sweetness take over mid sip. Those same flavors hang around through the lengthy and warming finish. There's no peat, no smoke and I don't really pick up anything "islandy". It's a tad oily and there's a very woodsy feel left lingering once the burn finally fades. It's a thoroughly enjoyable malt. I believe this runs around $60 a bottle and that's a solid deal for what you're getting here. Plenty of flavor, plenty of pop and you'll probably need plenty of aspirin the next morning if you get into a standoff with the bottle. Thanks to Scott for offering this one up as I've never seen it here in Virginia. This would be a wonderful after dinner sipper on a cool, fall evening. It'll warm you quite nicely while easily taking the edge off. 4.25 stars. Cheers.

Was really surprised by this one. As part of our Scottish distillery trading team, Scott generously provided this sample. Honestly, I never even heard of Arran...But I was so pleasantly surprised by this. if you like Talisker 10, but wished it was just a tad milder, this here is just for you. Sweet briny, but not too much...almost like you had a piece of cotton candy lightly immersed in salt. My wife has threatened to divorce me if I buy another bottle, otherwise this would be on my purchase list. ( I have 300+ bottles collected over 15 years...but barely consume one bottle every 6 months...it's a severe disproportionate intake to consumption ratio). Thanks Scott for this! Hey Paul---I've just one left before I'm done with round 2. Where you at?

4th batch. Quite alcoholic on the nose, difficult to go through to nose the different aromas, but at the first glance bold sweet with some fruitiness. The arrival is harsh, but quite tasty to tell the truth. But a disappointing finish. Clear a whisky that needs one drop of two of water. And after some drops of water, cloves and figs appear on the nose. The arrival is not so harsh now, but the alcohol is still there (maybe I should have put more water, but anyway I'm going to stop here). A lot going on on the taste, really sweet on the arrival and develops further with citric notes. The finish is now long, monotonic and warm. Pleasant whisky, not brilliant, but pleasant.

This is wonderful stuff. I was already a fan of the 10 yro. This is Scotch as it was intended to be. No heavy smoke, no raisin notes of sherry. The lovely notes of honeyed malt, shortbread, and nuttiness shine through without tarnish. My bottle is over 106 proof, but is as smooth as most 80 proofs. The finish is long and satisfying. I have to ship this in from a US state more than a thousand miles away---it is worth it.