By Tom Marquardt & Patrick Darr (San Marcos Daily Record) http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/

Making whisky on Scotland’s Isle of Arran is not a new activity.

Scotland’s purest water from the Loch na Davie, and the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream that speeds maturation of the barreled whisky have created an environment that favors the production of high quality single malt scotch.

But the opening of the Arran distillery in 1995 marked the first time since 1837 that the whisky produced on the island was legal, and with the full approval of the local government.

The Arran Malt is a small, craft distiller of about 150,000 liters per year and conforms to the three rules of producing single malt scotch: use only Scottish malted barley, distill twice in copper pot stills and in one distillery, and age the whisky in oak casks in Scotland for 3 years.

Unlike some other single malt scotch producers, Arran doesn’t dry the malted barley over a peat fire but instead uses heated dry air. The result is a non-smoky tasting spirit that is clean and fruity on the palate.

We recently met with Euan Mitchell, managing director of The Arran Malt, and learned first-hand about the colorful legal and illegal history of distilling on the Island of Arran, and had a chance to taste their efforts. Euan shared with us that Arran does not add any caramel color to their whisky and also doesn’t chill-filter their product in the belief that like fine wine filtering can strip some of the flavor from the beverage.

We also learned an invaluable tip for tasting single malt scotch, especially those in the 90-plus proof categories. Mix chilled pure water with the whisky in a brandy snifter style glass at about a 10:1 ratio of whisky to water. Don’t use ice cubes since they will chill the scotch to a point where some of the flavors and nose are muted.

We found that the small addition of a bit of water took the alcoholic fire out of the nose and smoothed out the whisky in the mouth, without diluting the bouquet or flavors. Tasting the whisky we were impressed with the clean, fruity flavors and complex impression on the senses.

The Arran Malt 10-year-old 46 percent alcohol (92 proof, $49) is aged in used American oak bourbon barrels and exhibited a lovely fruity rich round nose with a hint of grain. Creamy and fruity in the mouth this whisky is a good introduction to the Arran single malts. We also tasted two premium single cask aged single malts, that were delightful. The Arran Malt Single Bourbon Cask 50.5 percent alcohol (101 proof, $79) was selected for bottling from as single cask with the date of distillation and cask number printed on the individual bottle.

A terrific single malt with a wonderful fruity nose, and hints of vanilla and almonds in the mouth. The Arran Malt Single Sherry Cask 58.5 percent alcohol (117 proof, $79) definitely needs the water treatment to calm it down.

Once diluted a hint of sherry nuttiness and richness develops with some chocolate and citrus notes. Delicious!