I trust this email finds you in good spirits, and well on the way to recovery from all the crazy-wild revelry that is Groundhog Day…one of my favorite holidays…especially when it falls on a Saturday! 

There is still time (but not much) to enter your nominations for the 2013 Drammie Awards: The Voice of the Whiskey Consumer. Hundreds of WhiskeyLovers like you, from six different countries on three different continents have already submitted their nominations.   

Don’t miss your chance to be heard: Tell the whiskey industry what you think and enter your nominations now.

Two weeks ago FWL Managing Editor Caroline Dewar published her notes from her time spent talking with Arran Distillers Chief Executive Euan Mitchell. The article was packed with insight into this resolutely independent Island distillery, and Mitchell’s plans for the future. If you haven’t read it yet, I urge you to check it out. 

Inspired, I decided to try one of their limited edition whiskies, and opted for the one Caroline herself professed to prefer: The Arran Amarone Cask Finished Single Malty Whisky. 

The Isle of Arran Distillery (as it’s formally known) has become known for a series of whiskys called thier Cask Finishes. The first release of this series, Arran Amarone Cask Finished, is a double matured 10 year old Scotch finished in an Amarone wine casks sourced from an artisan producer of this iconic Italian red wine. 

Arran Master Distiller James MacTaggart carefully monitored this period of secondary maturation to ensure the perfect balance was struck between the Amarone casks and the intrinsic sweet-fruity character of The Arran Malt. 

The end result is a single malt full of charm, complexity and quality that received top marks from Jim Murray in his 2010 Whisky Bible (96 out of 100), along with the comments ‘perhaps the best Arran nose of all time’.     

I found this to be a wonderful whisky that combines the best of Arran with the restrained sweet fruit and oak notes of Amarone wine. At first whiff there are aromas of poached pears, honey and toasted almonds and notes of sweet red berries. 

The taste is delightful, with flavors of coffee, chocolate orange, mellow butterscotch, sweet stewed fruits with pronounced notes of ripe dark plums, sweet cinnamon and slightly bitter almonds.  The finish is long and elegant. 

This a limited edition release, and since its been available for awhile, the global inventory has been all but depleted. But fortunately for us our man Nicky The Neck is, shall I say, “connected” within the Amarone industry….and so he has a guy, who knows a guy… 

And so we are thrilled to be able to offer you the opportunity to acquire your own bottle of Arran Amarone Cask Finished Single Malty Whisky for $75.50/ bottle. But make haste…their not making any more of this, and once it’s gone… 

Or, if you want to try Arran’s most popular expression. Buy a bottle of Arran 10YO Single Malt Whisky giftpack ($49.95/ bottle), and receive two (2) Arran Whisky glasses FREE with your bottle. 

Until next week…I wish you high spirits! 

Arran Amarone Cask Finished Single Malt Whisky

Arran 10YO Single Malt Whisky & 2 Glasses Set