On the west coast of Scotland between the mainland and Kintyre peninsula is the Isle Of Arran, home now to two distilleries. I've visited a couple of times and always come away with something interesting!
This time I trying three limited edition drams, lets see how they compare:
| Dram | 10yo Cask Strength (2007) | 15yo Cask 874 (2000) | 17yo (1997) |
| Characteristics | 54.2% ABV, Non-coloured, NCF | 55.4% ABV, Non-coloured, NCF | 46% ABV, Non-coloured, NCF |
| Distillery notes | In 2017, Master Distiller James MacTaggart celebrates his 10th anniversary at the Isle of Arran Distillery. This fresh and vibrant expression of The Arran Malt has been carefully created by James to mark this milestone in his career. A selection of first fill 10 year-old Bourbon Barrels from James’s first months of production in 2007 form the much loved citrus fruit and sweet spice character of this dram. A memorable and classic expression of The Arran Malt. | This was a private bottling sold at auction. All we know is it's from Cask 874 possibly owned at some time by a John Naismith? | Arran distillery's first official 17 year made from unpeated malted barley and matured in a selection of ex-sherry casks. Bottled at their prefered strength of 46% ABV. 9000 bottles only. Aroma : Rich warm spices with notes of candied citrus peel, tinned mandarins and golden syrup. The classic Arran orchard fruits of red apple are there with a luxurious layer of honey. Palate : Plenty of sweet spice with cigar tobacco. A splash of water reveals dark chocolate and orange oil adding depth to this decadent dram. Finish : The warmth of the spice lingers on with the classic Sherry wood character coming to the fore, and the slightest puff of bonfire smoke in the tail. |
| My thoughts: | |||
| Appearance |  | ||
| Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line which eventually beads up and falls as slow thick legs. | Pale gold in the glass, swirls again cling as thin lines, beading up to fall as slow thin legs. | Dark gold in the glass, swirls form a thin line and fall immediately as slow thin legs | |
| Nose | Stewed orchard fruit - apples, pears, apricots with some citrus notes - orange and grapefruit. What I'd think of as a typical Arran nose. | A little maritime breeze to start with, a little marshmallow then into the typical Arran orchard fruit and citrus notes. After a little time in the glass there are some oak notes too. | A fruit medley of stewed orchard fruit and strawberries. A little hint of citrus and some sweet honey. A little time reveals nuts and brown sugar. |
| Palate | A smooth arrival with sweetness, fruit and a big dollop of ginger spice. The ABV isn't immediately apparent, the orchard fruit and citrus from the nose are here with the citrus giving more of a sour note. A few more sips show the vanilla and spice notes from the the ex-bourbon casks. Nice! | A lovely smooth sweet arrival, salt and fruit perfectly balanced. There's a little note of spice but it's not overpowering. Lots of sweet honey drizzled on orchard fruit. Very little in the way of citrus. A few more sips offer icing sugar and a little dryness in the mouth. Yummy! | Smooth and slightly watery after the first two higher strength drams but full of fruit notes - mixed fruit jam - apples and strawberries. Sweetness comes from honey and toffee notes and again a slightly drying icing sugar note. Nice! |
| Finish | Lingering ginger spice dominates this one - a little citrus and some vanilla. | Orchard fruit and honey linger with this one, a little hint of salt again and the icing sugar dryness. | A hint of spice on the finish here, some milk chocolate and a sour citrus note which lingers. |
| Overall | The 15yo single cask was top for me, that little hint of maritime breeze on the nose carried through to the palate and finish - reminiscent of a Campbeltown dram from across the water. But this still had the orchard fruit notes I normally associate with Arran - nothing tropical that you get from Campbeltown. The 10yo CS James MacTaggart dram was a very typical Arran - orchard fruit, citrus and little sweetness, the higher ABV just dialed it up a little bit more. The 17yo added sherry into the equation, berry and jam notes fitted in well. All three were very good drams, but for me the 15yo probably stood out - John Naismith has a cask load of bottles of them somewhere! | ||
No comments:
Post a Comment