Claxton’s Arran Tasting Notes

Claxton’s ‘The Single Cask’ Arran 1996 (20 year old) 50.3%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead 1713 – 1214/ Dist: Sept 1996 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Apr 2017

The nose is quite dark and malty with gritty, earthy, coffee’d tannins. Polished but rugged with a subtle tropical fruit and honey background. With time hints of lime, mature barley and vanilla. Give it some time in the glass and it opens up rather well.

The palate is earthy and malty with again a rugged but polished character. Like the nose the fruit is very subtle which comes through on the middle along with a touch of milky and gritty oak. Edgy, mouth-watering finish with a lovely complexity of citrus, creamy barley, vanilla, apple blossom, hyacinth, white licourice and the returning malt. Wonderful progression and an excellent finish.

Claxton’s ‘The Single Cask’ Arran 1996 (21 year old) 52.1%

Sherry Puncheon 1843-939/ Dist Aug 1997 Btl: Jun 2018/ Tasted: Jul 2018

Aromas of high tones dried fruit and a touch of prune and raisin. Subtle notes of gritty tannin, buttery vanilla, salt, warm cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger appear. The vanillins really come to the fore with time and the expected sherry notes are really very restrained.

The palate is quite buttery with apple, apricot, earth and a suggestion of dried fruit. Again the sherry influence is very subtle but it adds some pleasant soft ginger and cinnamon notes on the middle, along with some developing salt and citrus. Long and vanilla’d with lingering spice, salt and sweet, dried sherry fruit. All round it’s very well balanced.

Bartles Whisky Arran Tasting Notes

Highland Laird Isle of Arran 1996 (20 year old) 51.3%

Sherry Butt 1337/ Dist: 1996 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Mar 2017

A pruney and winey nose with lashings of Oloroso, treacle, dark malt, wood smoke and hints of raisin, orange, tangerine along with some lightly herbal and coffee’d tannins. Obviously a first fill butt!

The palate is dense and raisinated with pruney dried fruit and coffee. No distillery character but a good depth of clean sherry with a touch of salt and herbs on the middle. Long with bitter chocolate, alcohol enhanced spice, burnt wood and tannin.

Dewar Rattray Arran Tasting Notes

Dewar Rattray ‘Individual Cask Bottling’ Arran 2011 (5 year old) 57.3%

Bourbon Cask No 4/ Dist 2011 Btl: 2016/ Tasted: Nov 2016

The alcohol level makes the noise feel pretty tight, however it’s quite gristy with white fruit and balsamic, malty notes. Slightly herbal with late vanilla, apricot and slightly perfumed floral notes.

The palate is tight and gristy with white fruit, vanilla, malt and developing aromatic barley. The finish is a little masked by the alcohol but it does show some milk and white chocolate and sweet coffee and toffee.

A drop of water makes it gorgeously citric with tangerine, orange blossom, apricot, pineapple, barley and heather notes being released. The palate is like the nose, gorgeously citric with orange blossom honey, orange marmalade, apricot and a touch of oak. Long and honeyed with lingering sweet oak, barley, mandarin and Satsuma.

Dewar Rattray ‘Individual Cask Bottling’ Arran 1996 (12 year old) 55.7%

Puncheon 96/723

Dist: July 1996 Btl: Nov 2008/ Tasted: Nov 2008

Definitely heavy on the oils and the peat. There’s a slight costal note and a slight sulphur note, which I really dried to ignore given that it was only a suggestion and well I could’ve been wrong. It takes awhile to open and when it does there’s a glorious weight of orange fruit and liquid honey.

The palate is quiet earthy again that slight sulphurous note is present along with soggy earth/ cardboard, which kind of transmutes itself into a weetabix flavour. Piquant and intense with an earthy, coal dust, peat and coastal finish. I’m afraid that a drop of water emphasises the sulphur which is a shame.

Dewar Rattray ‘Single Cask’ Arran 1997 (13 year old) 46%

Bourbon Cask 509 – sample at cask strength

Dist: 1997 Btl: 2010/ Tasted: Nov 2010

A very malty and buscuity nose. In fact it could almost be a Madeira finish! Thick and unctuous, not overly complex but with a pleasant degree of candied fruit and buttery oak. The palate pretty much mirrors the nose. Full and rounded, not overly complex and not overly coastal.

With water (an approximation of what it will be like at 46%) It has become grassier, more Spey-like in character, although some subtle cereal fruit and a slightly floral note are evident. There is less oak influence now but its natural caramels flatten it a tad. The palate is a pleasant if a bit flat and short due to the natural caramel from the oak and I’m afraid that it is not lighting my fire!

Dewar Rattray ‘Individual Cask Bottling’ Arran 1996 (16 year old) 46%

Bourbon Cask 235 – sample at 55.1%

Dist: 1996 Btl: 2012/ Tasted: Sept 2012

A lovely fragrant nose of summer meadows, barley and a touch of tropical fruit. With time it becomes quite earthy with a slight balsamic note.

The palate is soft with plenty of maturing, straw-like barley and fleshy apricot. Slightly spicy with a developing earthiness. The alcohol masks the finish a tad but some juicy citrus peaks through.

With water (an approximation of what it will be like at 46%) Very juicy and evocative on the nose now. A lovely melange of tropical fruit – pineapple, guava, mango and creamy American oak. Hints of barley emerge as does a honeyed sheen. The Palate is succulent with plenty of barley, sprinkled with granulated sugar. Gently creamy oak followed by a lovely citrus burst on the middle. Long with a balanced bitter/ sweet and spicy finish.

Dewar Rattray Octaves Project Arran 6 year old 59.3%

Bourbon Cask/ Btl: 2019/ Tasted: Jan 2020

A tight and gristy nose with subtle notes of tangerine, apricot, salt and creamy oak. With time I can detect buttercup, apple and charred oak.

The palate is like the nose – tight and gristy with subtle honey and vanilla. Pleasantly fruity middle with tangerine, apricot and creamy oak. Simple but deep with a slightly masked finish but a good juicy and fruity after-taste.

Water makes the nose less tight and therefore juicy and estery. Slightly more floral with honey and pollon. Late lime, nettles and greengage. The palate is much the same as it is neat although less tight. Juicy apricot, tangerine and unsweetened pineapple finish.

Dewar Rattray Octaves Project Arran 6 year old Rum Octave Finish 57.3%

5 month finishing/ Btl: 2019/ Tasted: Jan 2020

The nose opens with plenty of sweet rummy fruit, apricot and just a hint of barley and salt. The rum is definitely dominating the distillery character and with time adds an almost agricole-like herbal  note. Late toasted oak and greengage.

The palate is tight and lightly tannic with creamy dried fruit and hints of honey, coffee and again those agricole-like herbal  notes. Hints of barley, tangerine and greengage in the finish.

With water it’s very much the same as when it’s neat, maybe there is a slight perfumed edge to the fruit now and less of the herbal character. The palate is a little watery with subtle dried fruit and subtler herbal notes. The finish peters off quite quickly.

Dewar Rattray Octaves Project Arran 6 year old Rioja Octave Finish 57.6%

5 month finishing/ Btl: 2019/ Tasted: Jan 2020

Intense, herbal, dried red fruit on the nose with huge amounts of charred and coffee’d oak. Absolutely no spirit character whatsoever.

The palate is grippy, tight, tannic with red fruit and herbal notes. Very drying and tannic middle but the sweetness of the fruit sort of balances. Masked, spicy finish.

Water makes no difference to the nose, but on the palate it emphasises the sweetness of the fruit and brings out a touch of syrup. Still a bit tannic, short and spicy.

Dewar Rattray Octaves Project Arran 6 year old Oloroso Octave Finish 57%

5 month finishing/ Btl: 2019/ Tasted: Jan 2020

A dense, toasty nose of Oloroso dried fruit and sweet herbal notes. Again there’ no spirit character.

Sweet dried fruit and coffee’d tannins on the palate. Gritty but soft tannins on the middle with a long, sweet dried fruit finish and lightly coffee’d after-taste.

Water emphasise the toasty oak on the nose but not much else. The palate is sweeter, toastier and less tannic (just). Shorter and spicier on the finish.

Dewar Rattray Octaves Project Arran 6 year old Pedro Ximinez Octave Finish 55.4%

5 month finishing/ Btl: 2019/ Tasted: Jan 2020

A very toasty and winey nose with juicy, pruney, grapey sherry and treacle. Unsurprisingly there is no spirit character. late coffee’d tannins and toffee.

The palate is toasty, grippy and tannic with a weight of treacly, pruney and winey dried fruit. Sweetly spiced middle. Good length with lingering treacle, coffee, bitter tannin and toasty oak.

Water makes no change to the nose. The palate is less tannic and a lot sweeter, almost treacle overkill! However there’s a subtle citrus note to add a little balance to the sweetness and maybe a touch of barley too. The finish isn’t as bitter but still quite coffee’d.

North Star Spirits Arran Tasting Notes

North Star Spirits Arran 1996 (20 year old) 51.9%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Madeira

Dist: 1996 Btl: 2016/ Tasted: Nov 2016

Very deep and honeyed aromas with herbal biscuit notes. The distinctive, toasted, lightly nutty oxidised Madeira fruit notes come through along with a touch of toffee, but don’t swamp the Arran character.

The palate is subtler, crisper and saltier, with more of the Arran tropical fruit up first. The toffee’d, biscuity Madeira arrives on the middle. Lovely intensity and length with a lightly herbal and nutty finish augmented with salt and honey.

Carn Mor Arran Tasting Notes

Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask Arran 1996 (15 year old) 52.6%

Sherry Puncheon 2135/ Dist: Nov 1996 Btl: Mar 2015/ Tasted: May 2015

Subtle and creamy aromas of apricot and white fruit along with a touch of straw, sweet barley and dried grape. Lightly coastal and pleasantly balanced.

The palate is quite dry and softly tannic. The sherry influence is quite restrained and adds just a sliver of dried fruit and nuts. Lightly malt on the middle with a touch of coffee and light smoke. Good, salty finish.

Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask Arran 1996 (22 year old) 55.4%

Sherry Hogshead 383/ Dist: May 1996 Btl: Jan 2019/ Tasted: Feb 2019

A subtly mature nose with orange conserve, coffee, liquorice root, ginger and sweet malt. I’m guessing that it was matured in a refill sherry hoggy as the herbal sherry notes are pretty light. Overall it’s delightfully balanced and elegant with late sultana, dark chocolate, soft but gritty spice/ tannins, walnut shell and finally a touch of estery, sub-tropical fruit as the spirit really emerges.

The palate is juicy, opening with subtle tangerine and lemon before the malt moves in fairly quickly. Slightly gritty sherrywood tannins, Columbian coffee, sultana, raisin and treacle follow. The sherry does become a little dominant on the middle but there is enough estery fruit and sweet malt to balance. Lightly oiled and honeyed with a long, salty, sweet apricot, melon, apple and subtle coffee’d spice on the finish. A touch drying on the finish but this has a lovely progression.

Duncan Taylor Arran Tasting Notes

Duncan Taylor Dimensions Isle of Arran 1996 (16 year old) 53.8%

Cask 663/ Dist: July 1996 Btl: Oct 2012/ Tasted: 2012

The nose is industrial, hard and feinty with manure, boiled cabbage and damp barley. Horribly metallic with some mucky barley and honey notes.

The palate is equally hard and industrial with the unmistakable note of wet cardboard. Metallic, murky and nasty. Not even the hint of sweet barley can save this palate. Short, alcoholic and metallic with hints of cabbage and rhubarb. Conclusion. Nasty. It can only be Ledaig! (Again apparently not!)

Master of Malt Arran Tasting Notes

Master of Malt Arran 1996 (16 Years Old) Single Cask 53.9%

First Fill Sherry Puncheon/ Dist: Aug 1996 Btl: Dec 2012/ Tasted: 2013

The nose is edgy and slightly industrial with hard as nails barley, manure, honey, citrus and rhubarb. With time it becomes very industrial with hints of sickly sweet violet and some lightly dusty oak. Water makes the aromas a little bit more pleasant as the emphasis shifts towards the citrus and barley.

Quite soft but industrial on the palate with citrus, apple and rhubarb plus hints of earth and coffee. However it’s not long before the murky cardboard notes appear! Water turns it into sugar water. Dull. The finish is very alcoholic with a nasty caramel/ coffee oiliness. With water it’s dull and sugary. Conclusion: Another ropy Ledaig (obviously not!). At least it’s not as bad as the Duncan Taylor Dimensions Isle of Arran 1996!

Hunter Laing Arran Tasting Notes

Hunter Laing Old Malt Cask Arran 1996 (16 year old) 50%

Port Finished Puncheon/ Code: OMC2282/ HL9901

Dist: Jul 1996 Btl: Jun 2013/ Tasted: Sept 2013

An earthy, coastal peat nose with hints of citrus and cinnamon. Quite light on the finish with an intimation of spicy black fruit. With time the fudgy oak notes which begin in the background begin to dominate.

The palate is soft and earthy with toasted caramel and vanilla. Light earthy-peat mingles with some porty dried fruit and soft spices. Still very earthy and bordering on the murky side but some sweet barley attempts to counter. Very dry, slightly hot finish.

 Hunter Laing Old Malt Cask Arran 1995 (18 year old) 50%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: HL10852/ Dist: Dec 1995 Btl: Aug 2014/ Tasted: Oct 2014

Distinctive aromas of green apple combined with cider apple and fresh herbs. With time hints of toffee and honey appear.

The palate is fuller than the nose suggests with hints of baked apple, toffee and drying tannin and chocolate. Short and masked by the alcohol and tannins. Dilution makes no improvement. 

Hunter Laing Old Malt Cask Arran 1996 (19 year old) 50%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: OMC2518/ HL11885

Dist: Sept 1996 Btl: Sept 2015/ Tasted: May 2016

Oily and lightly coastal aromas with lemon, lime, barley and hints of asparagus and creamy vanilla. It opens to show some mature baked fruit with a light balsamic edge. With time loads of granulated sugar coated green fruit notes come to the fore.

The palate opens with the creamy oak and baked fruit, followed by hints of malt, treacle and fragrant herbs – camphor, thyme and coriander leaf. Very full and mature. Good length with lingering salt, malt, lemon sherbert and a little bitter oak add the death.

 

Cadenhead’s Arran Tasting Notes

Cadenhead’s’Authentic Collection’ Arran 1996 (15 Years Old) 56.9%

Bourbon Hogshead/ Dist: 1996 Btl: Apr 2012/ Tasted: July 2012

A mature nose of straw, manure and dunnage warehouses, but there is also some pleasant, slightly perfumed white fruit, barley and honeysuckle notes. Very deep with a light, earthy peat note. With water a gorgeous liquid orange character emerges, but it does simplify it however.

The palate opens with the creamy/ milky oak followed by straw, earth, barley and mature fruit. Water makes it slightly watery and a tad homogenous, but still quite pleasant though. Very dry, alcohol and salt laden finish. Pleasantly juicy with a citrus after but it definitely need diluting. With water it’s ok. Conclusion: Quite an impressive, mature malt when neat, although the alcohol does mask the finish, but it becomes rather homogenous when water is added.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society Arran Tasting Notes

Scotch Malt Whisky Society  121.51 2002 (9 year old) ‘Amazing Waves of Sweetness’ 61.3%

Refill ex-Sherry Butt/ Dist: Jul 2002 Btl: 2011/ Tasted: July 2012

Leafy, dusty, spicy Oloroso to begin with. Very clean with hints of dried fruit and perfumed peat. With time it becomes very perfumed. Water makes it a bit flat but brings out a treacly denseness.

The palate opens with juicy, dried apricot, raisins and dried plums. Quite earthy with hints of liquorice and dark chocolate. Water flattens it just like the nose but it still retains some juiciness and treacly richness. Quite mouth-watering alcoholic, but pleasantly spicy. With water it becomes longer with a beautiful golden honey sheen, gentle peat note and some wood tannins. Conclusion: Surprisingly for such a high abv it’s not at all spirity on the nose, there’s not a huge amount of discernible distillery character but the sherry is very clean.