KWM Whisky Advent 2017 Day 19 – Isle of Arran 14 Year

The Isle of Arran Distillery is located – unsurprisingly – on the Isle of Arran. The island lies just east of Campbeltown and well east of Islay and the distillery itself resides on the north of the island at Lochranza. Arran distillery is relatively young by Scottish standards. Having started production in 1995 this is relatively true in the grand scheme of things and given the history boasted by many of Scotland’s other distilleries.

Arran Distillery has been in operation for 21 years and has been successful enough for its private ownership group to work on building a second distillery on the same Island – this one in the south overlooking the cliffs at Lagg. A ground-breaking ceremony at the new site took place on February 16th of this year. The plan is to focus on peated whisky at the new distillery once it is up and running.

Kensington Wine Market has been lucky enough to have a very good relationship with Arran and its representatives for a long time. We just bottled our 9th and 10th single casks with them. Joining our peated 7-year-old single casks are two 20-year-old unpeated malts both aged in separate sherry hogsheads and showing different facets of the Arran house style.

The core range of Arran consists of the 10, the 14 and 18-year-old and a few regular cask finish bottlings such as Port and Amarone. They also release the moderately peated Machrie Moor line and the Robert Burns line of Single Malt and Blended Scotch. Today’s Advent bottle is the Arran 14 year bottled at 46% ABV

Arran 14 Year – 46% – Mautred in Ex-Bourbon & Ex-Sherry – Evan’s Tasting Note: “Nose: Ginger and lime, pineapple, green mango, pear – such a plethora of orchard and tropical fruit. Vanilla, Elderflower, chamomile, buttercream and almonds, Fruit Loops cereal in milk. Everything is bright and fresh. Palate: Creamy entry with ginger heat before fruit and nut notes join the fray. Chili and lime coated almonds, grapefruit, pineapple, chamomile again, pistachios, walnuts, light toasty oak, passion fruit and more mango. Finish: Both creamy and tangy all the way down. The texture is lovely and the green notes and acidity make the front of your tongue tingle. Comments: As a long-time fan of Arran I feel like this is where the rubber meets the road in the regular lineup. The 10 year old is solid notes but this 14 year exhibits my favorite style from the distillery with its burst of tropical fruit and ginger notes plus the amazing creamy texture.” – $80 for 700ml