Isle of Arran 11 Year Old 1999 NC2 Duncan Taylor

Arran 100 Proof

This is my first Arran. I haven’t sampled much from this distillery, but right now I find myself starting with the 100 Proof. I like a bit of kick, so I thought a healthy 57% abv. may be right up my alley. Not so. Nose: Apples, citrus rind, pears, and malt. Lots of barley and some very light vanilla. The strength gives it an alcoholic bite but the...

Score 73/100

Arran 8 Year Old 2004 Orkney Bere

Bruichladdich and Arran launched a Bere Barley variety at almost the same time. Bere is an ancient Scottish grain type that yields less than more recent plants. The Bruichladdich was a bit of a letdown for me. Let us see how the Arran fares. The nose, unsurprisingly, bursts with grain. But this one shows a nice sweetness in the form of young...

Score 84/100

Arran à la Belge

Four like-minded people with a preference for all things good in life get together to create this Arran à la Belge. Wait… what? It is an Arran with a Kriek beer finish. The malt was distilled on 11 October 2005 and matured for 12 years on a refill bourbon cask. Then it was re-racked on 18 Sepbember 2017 to a Cantillon Kriek cask at a strength of...

Score 80/100

Arran 12 Year Old Cask Strength

The Arran 12 Year Old Cask Strength saw the light of day in 2012. This first batch, no less than 12.000 bottles strong, is a marriage of first fill and second fill sherry hogsheads. After the initial alcohol burn I get a nice mix of green apples, malt and sultanas. A touch of salted farmers butter. A lot of vanilla. All kinds of green herbs and a...

Score 86/100