Arran 16 Year Old Single Cask Master of Malt

Arran The Bothy Quarter Cask

Part 2 of our head-to-head with the new and similarly priced Arrans. This one is not necessarily new, as the sherry cask is, but it's new for me since I never saw it in it's old packaging, and it sits right next to the sherry cask in the line-up. This is aged in a 125L quarter cask and bottled at cask strength. This has also been open for 3 months...

Score 92/100

Arran Amarone Cask Finish

I thought I would go ahead and do this head to head while it's fresh on my mind. I'm not always into wine finishes, and the Arran Port cask was a bit of a letdown for me, especially when compared with their age-stated 10yo and (axed)14yo. But as I generally enjoy Arran I thought it was high time I gave the rest of these "cask finishes"...

Score 86/100

Arran 1996 12 Year Old Peacock

Nose: Lemon meringue , vanilla cream, some dough oak and malt. light and fresh. Palate : Malty , bitter and oily. Orange peel and fruits. Vanilla ice cream notes. The mix of the Bourbon and Sherry casks is good and you can enjoy both worlds without one dominating the other. Good choice of cask there! Finish : Dry bitter oak and fruit. Medium...

Score 80/100

Arran 14 Year Old

This one was finished in fresh bourbon and sherry hogsheads for two years before it was bottled. The result is a sweet and fruity dram. Now for the notes: Nose: Tropical fruits galore, strong balsamic on teh nose too. After 5 minutes of letting it rest in the glass, all that balsamic is gone, and we get some lovely apples, barley, wood. Wonderful...

Score 85/100