Whisky Online Blog

Arran, one of the most beautifully situated distilleries in Scotland.

I have to admit I have never been to Arran before. There is really no excuse for this, its been on my doorstep in Glasgow and at home in Argyll for many years now and yet I never seem to have made the pilgrimage. However I have another slightly more shocking confession, I have never really investigated the whisky from this island before. Sure I’ve tried it, quite a few of then in fact, single casks here and there, official releases, I’ve tasted a fair few of them but I wasn’t ever that enthusiastic about it. I don’t know why, I don’t remember ever trying a dreadful one, I think maybe it was that Arran was quiet. Its a small independent operation that was quietly working away with its youthful stocks of spirit during the same decade that I was charging headlong into a deeper and deeper passion for whisky, I was seduced by big name distilleries and fancy drams, the thrill of trying my first 40 year old malt, of visiting my first distilleries, first festivals. I think Arran maybe got forgotten about somewhere along the way. Well shame on me is all I can say, having just returned from a fast and furious couple of days on the Island, in the very generous care of the distillery, I can safely claim to have had my eyes opened.

A stroll around Arran's sole dunnage warehouse during a howling gale, not something to forget in a hurry.

The crossing to Arran was unexpectedly rocky, perhaps the first tempestian hint at the schizophrenic weather that lay ahead. We were to arrive on Friday night, get a good night’s rest and come up smiling Saturday morning for the distillery’s open day. Arran, as you may or may not know, is celebrating its fifteenth year of production, hence the shindig. There would be food, drams, masterclasses, music, tours and possibly rain, basically your standard issue distillery open day. I didn’t know what to expect as we drove out from Brodick, I had heard all the Visit Scotland chatter about the Island, ‘Scotland in miniature’ and all that but I did not have a clear image in my mind of what Arran was like. I was surprised by the roads, they wound themselves around the edge of the island like thoughtlessly strewn liquorice spaghetti, they left little room for a meditative journey. I wasn’t so surprised by the scenery, the green moors and slightly imposing hills were what I’d been told about but seeing them up close left me feeling like I wasn’t on an Island, they felt like they belonged to an underpopulated corner of the west-coast mainland. The sea never failed to remind you of your location though, no sandy beaches but miles of stony shoreline, rusted with slabs of sandstone and huge surf-lashed rocks. When the clouds gathered and the wind took off you could stand alone in these places and feel like the only man on earth. The distillery however was what really blew me away, sitting proud amidst stretching green grass and rushes and guarded by monolithic hills it was one of the most impressive distillery settings I’ve ever seen.

The distillery as it appeared to us on arrival.

If you’ve visited Islay during the festival then you might have a good impression of a distillery open day, the thronging people, some live music, a burger stand, drams and mirth flying about your head. Arran had all these hallmarks but it was also much more relaxed, there were lots of people but the crowds were easy and chilled out. There was a large contingent from the Glasgow Whisky Society, there were familiar faces and there were plenty locals as well. One of the first impressions upon arriving was the level of integration with the community, this is clearly very important for Arran. One thing that was so apparent as we spent time at the distillery over the weekend was how much work goes into producing a whisky on an island, it is a true slog and something that cannot be achieved without the support of the Island’s inhabitants. Likewise they reap the rewards of having a distillery to their Island so it felt like a very community driven affair and all the better for it. There was no moaning, no bitching, no silly ques for the bottling, it started, and remained, a party.

Tantalizing arranged tasting glasses await their inevitable contents...

However for all the fun and sunshine outside there was still a masterclass to attend. Ours was the first one of the day taken by Andy Hogan who proved a generous and relaxed host. The group was refreshingly small so there was a wonderfully informal and conversational atmosphere. We had a flight of six drams, five different single cask samples and the 15 year old anniversary bottling. I was very much looking forward to this as it was a chance to compare a variety of different Arrans, something I had never done before. These are my notes for the cask samples, they haven’t been bottled and many are works in progress so I haven’t scored them, I have however indicated my impressions of each dram’s quality, but just remember these are my impressions, not to be confused with anything resembling expert or official opinion. All drams were at cask strength but the strengths weren’t noted.

Arran Cask 875. 2001. Fresh Bourbon Barrel.

Nose: Very soft and fresh, citrus peel, vanilla pods and a medium level of sweetness

Palate: Very typical modern style, well made, young whisky. Seems to fit its age very well, very consistent with the nose, a little vanilla sweetness but also quite refreshing with some soft fruits, ripe pears, golden delicious apples and a little spicy bite. With water it is softer and fresher, quite close to the official releases at 10 and 12 years old now.

Finish: The little sharpness at the end of the palate is still there but there is a fairly invigorating atlantic breezy character in the finish.

Comments: Maybe its suggestion but I do get a slightly salty, refreshing tang towards the finish, maybe this is its island hallmark. Still the whole is a very good whisky, nice balance between youthful freshness and some more apparent mature characters. Its a very drinkable summery dram in my opinion.

Arran Cask 764. 2001. Fresh Oloroso Sherry Hogshead.

Nose: Big, thick polished sherry character, no apparent off notes or sulphur tones. Dense and concentrated, lots of figs, raisiny notes, madeira cake and maybe some pipe tobacco. It still has quite a lot of youthful bite to it, bordering on over aggressive, needs water. With water it becomes a little lighter, some more delicate fruit character and a bit biscuity, millionaire’s shortbread.

Palate: At full strength it is as big as the nose suggests, more concentrated fruit liqueur, some drying spiciness and dark chocolate. The vibrancy of youth is still apparent and the sherry is still clean so far. With water some violets, a little nutty and a bit more appetisingly fresh, not so concentrated any more.

Finish: There is a suggestion of something dirty on the finish but it is not unpleasant, gunpowder and struck flints, not out of touch with the rest of the profile. Water seems to develop this effect more.

Comments: Quite an entertaining cask, obviously a good sherry cask, it would be interesting to try after another eight years or so maturation. It could go either way and become softer and fruitier or it could become dirtier but its an interesting variation on the Arran style. Changes quite fascinatingly with water, you could faff about with this whisky and a pipette for a fair while.

Arran Cask 1319. 1997. Re-fill Sherry Hogshead.

Nose: Grassy, delicate and flowery, very soft and elegant, some seashore character. No apparent wood technology at work, just well rounded complex spirit. Herbacious, saline, lemon rind, melon.

Palate: Lovely, balanced delivery, well rounded, complex and intricate malt. Cereal character now with more green fruit and some delicate spice. Ever so slightly drying which is very beautiful. More herbal character.

Finish: Lime juice, salt, freshly cut grass and finally a little minerality. Always quite a fruity Arran.

Comments: This is beautiful, my kind of whisky. Its a great shame if they don’t fill more re-fill wood. The distillery plans to fill almost exclusively first fill bourbon over the coming years, on the strength of this cask I think that would be a great shame. Arran is obviously a very subtle and expressive spirit when allowed to retain its own voice a little more. Anway, a great dram and my favourite so far.

Arran Cask 43. 2005. Re-fill, ex-Calvados French Oak Hogshead.

This cask was used for finishing a previous expression then filled with new make back in 2005.

Nose: Sweet and concentrated, lots of apples and spice, a good apple pie. Very calvadosy, very spicy and quite luscious sweetness.

Palate: Big and mouth-coating but quite sharp, the cask has hidden parts of the spirit’s youth but not all of them, still a little disjointed. However the fruit and spice concentration is very pleasant and the calvados character is quite striking. Maybe even some minerality towards the finish. Very unusual.

Finish: Short, sweet and spicy.

Comments: Its not a complex whisky but then its still quite young, very interesting and unusual whisky but perhaps needs more time to find its feet. Not much distillery character but not particularly flawed either. An Arran enigma.

Arran Cask 120. 2005. Fresh Bourbon Barrel. Peated to 14 ppm.

Nose: A little closed, some bourbon character, a little flourish of sweetness and phenols but otherwise a bit ungiving.

Palate: The peat is suddenly very apparent on the palate, peat oils, malt floors and dunnage warehouses with maybe some citrus fruit in the background. Quite straightforward young whisky but the peat gives it a nice poise and oily texture in the mouth.

Finish: Not so long, seems the case with these young casks, the peat fades with some wispy smoke and there is some more bourbony spice.

Comments: Most people in the tasting were not that fond of this one but I found it quite intriguing, sure its too young but for me its quite unusual to try a malt that is only medium peated. 14ppm is quite unusual and its interesting to see how the phenols manifest themselves. Its also another interesting variation on the Arran style. It might be quite refreshing over ice on a summers day but maybe that’s sacrilege, I don’t know. I’m looking forward to trying this when its over ten years old.

Lots of juicy casks are to be found in Arran's warehouses that's for sure.

Having tried such a broad selection of casks what becomes apparent when you try some of the official releases afterwards is that Arran has really started to refine its house style. It is true that it makes a malt closer in style to a fuller bodied Speysider like Macallan or Mortlach but for me it remains a very fresh whisky. Even from some of the more first fill dominated releases, it has an appetising, slightly atlantic spring in its step that belies it island roots. The 97 re-fill hoggie we tried was the biggest eye opener for me, a beautiful example of what can be achieved when the wood takes a step back rather than a heavy handed approach. I really hope we see some single casks like that in future. The rest of our day was spent lounging in the sun and sharing some drams with friends, it was one of the most enjoyable afternoons I’ve had at a distillery for quite some time. The next day we were invited for a tour at the distillery but that will be covered in part 2 which I’ll post tomorrow. For now I’ll leave you with my tasting notes for the oldest Arran yet bottled.

The new 15yo limited edition to celebrate the distillery's fifteenth anniversary.

Arran 1995. Cask no’s 90, 101 & 103. All fresh bourbon barrels, 70cl, 51.4%, 600 bottles, only available at the distillery (for now). Although there is another anniversary bottling which you can get here.

Colour: Copper.

Nose: Tangerines, chocolate oranges, mixed spice then lots of vanilla and crème brulée, typical fresh bourbon characters. Very modern but a great example of the style, that Arran freshness is still there. Becomes aromatic and herbacious after a while with tarragon and cloves. Quite expressive really.

Palate: Big notes of spice and marmalade, maybe coriander marmalade. Some candied peel and rich creaminess. Very gentle in the mouth, the alcohol is not apparent at all, milk chocolate and some notes of sackcloth or hessian, a little dunnage character. Water releases some more aromatic toasted spices and hints of woodsmoke, it really is quite rich on the palate, the distillery character is perhaps not so apparent here. It is very drinkable though.

Finish: Good length and complexity, still some sweetness but it is never cloying, very engaging whisky.

Comments: For me its a little sweet but that is purely personal, its still very drinkable and otherwise well balanced. Lovely aromatic touches throughout and it kept on developing, a dram you could easily spend quite some time over. Great Arran, well worth it.

score: 89/100