Origin: Isle of Arran (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 52.5%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and ex-Wine
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Lochranza Distillery
Average price: € 170.00
Official website: www.arranwhisky.com
The Rare Batch series of the fifteen-year old from Lochranza distillery started in 2021, featuring an initial maturation in ex-bourbon casks followed by a long finishing in ex-wine casks, with the exception of 2024, which added ex-oloroso sherry casks.
This edition of Arran starts with seven years in ex-bourbon casks and the remaining eight years in casks that have contained white wine from the Grand Cru Champagne region, which indicates particularly fine vineyards or vintages (as was already the case with Glenfiddich).
Cask strength for a total of 4,198 bottles distributed by the end of 2025.
Tasting Notes
The softness and silkiness of the nose doesn’t suggest the long passage in ex-wine casks, which is perfectly integrated with the fruity and sweet notes of the initial maturation. Peach, apricot, and ripe apple rest on a layer of sponge cake soaked in Grand Marnier, with layers of buttercream, acacia honey, white chocolate, and candied orange peel. A hint of spices (nutmeg, cinnamon) frames the aromas, which over time express a waxy trace and a slight acid note of white wine. Sumptuous.
The wine becomes more pronounced on the palate, where spices also raise their voice with an intense peak of black pepper, ginger, and anise. Initially astringent and dry, the bitter notes seem to prevail over the sweet and fruity components, which take a backseat to licorice root, vegetal notes, almonds, and lemon. Over time, a lively note, reminiscent of apple juice and sparkling wine, runs through the flavors, restoring balance to a dram that seemed dangerously unbalanced, highlighting fruit (apple, primarily) and sweetness, in the form of a trifle.
Finale quite long and spicy, straddling between dry and bitter with soft and sweet veins, nuts, and licorice.
Review: If on the nose it expresses soft elegance, in drinking it emphasizes the final maturation perhaps too sharply, which I would say is inevitable given its duration, yet it doesn’t betray the essence of the distillate that still manages to emerge. A full and complex experience that certainly doesn’t leave one indifferent.
Vote: 88/100