Last night I had a couple drams from my first bottle of Arran Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
While doing so I was reading about the Arran Distillery and found that it only started production in 1993 and released its first bottling of a 10 year old expression in 2006. They followed this with a 12 year old in 2008.
My bottle had no year designation. This generally makes me a little nervous as it could very young and somewhat harsh. The book I was reading, “World Whiskey” by Charles Maclean, talks about the location of the distillery being in the Gulf Stream, which creates a warm climate system. This warmth speeds up the maturation process of the whisky. This, in turn, creates a taste of a much older expression.
I bought this bottle on the advise of my friend Mark. I have never considered Mark to be a Mensa candidate but in this case he recommendation was right on. This scotch is certainly well above average. This expression is bottled at 46% alcohol and hints of citrus with warm, smokey under tones. The hints of peat are there and add to the overall taste without being overbearing. A great drink. I look forward to trying Arran’s others offerings.