Origin: Isle of Arran (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 50%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and ex-Sauternes Wine
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Lochranza Distillery
Average price: € 50.00
Official website: www.arranwhisky.com
Vote: 88/100
After having explored the ageing whiskies of Arran’s new updated core range, we return to taste, some time after the last one, one of the Lochranza distillery’s finishes, the one in ex-Sauternes wine casks. The image refers to the old packaging, which, as we have said many times, we prefer to the new one, but as far as we can see, browsing through the official Arran website, the production formula has remained unchanged: 8 years in ex-Bourbon casks and an unspecified period of time in ex-Sauternes casks, before being bottled, like all the distillery’s finishes, at 50% ABV, without chillfiltration and in its natural colour.
For more information on this French sweet wine from the Bordeaux area, we refer you to the review of Glenmorangie The Nectar d’Or).
Tasting notes
In the glass, a beautiful warm gold colour looks at us.
On the nose, the entry is on notes of sweet wine, with hints of almonds, marzipan and candied ginger, embraced by a delicious scent of roses and accompanied, in a decidedly inviting olfactory score, by fragrances reminiscent of sponge cake, candied violets and pineapple cream. Over time, impressions of wildflower honey, dried apricots and hay mature, while a hint of smoke emerges (rather faintly perceived) and a hint of vanilla perfectly combined with a hint of frangipane.
On the palate, in the context of an enveloping body that makes the drinker suspect a brazen attempt at sensory seduction, most of the scene is occupied by dried apricots, surrounded by shortcrust pastry, honey and sponge cake, with a truly generous ginger that returns, along with dried apricot and vanilla, in a medium-long finish that is both satisfying and inviting to the next sip.
Balanced on the edge of a sweetness held in a tight rein by the floral scents typical of the Arran distillate, a new, happy demonstration of the ductility of this whisky that finds in Sauternes wine an ally and not a rival.