Arran embraces the beauty of locally grown barley
In my surroundings, there is a group of hardcore Arran fans, and I got tipped very early about a new release we have on the table today. It is the first batch of Arran Barley at 10 years old. The idea to source your most important core ingredient from your own “terroir”, seems logical. Especially when you are located on an island. Funnily enough, when I picked up my bottle of this Arran at my local retailer, the story on the backside of the tube tells mostly about the water source. How every drop of Arran single malt whisky starts life as rainwater, “which pools at Loch Na Davie in the beautiful hills high above the distillery”. All very nice, but how come they choose local Arran barley for distilling? Well, maybe they will enlighten us next time. Details below with the notes.
The second Arran we taste today was in my stash for a little longer. This is an expression that matured on Calvados casks, but was bottled in 2005. I was under the impression Calvados casks were introduced as legal maturing vessels rather recently, together with tequila and Mezcal casks. The truth is a bit more opaque. Indeed, since June 2019, these casks are now “officially” allowed, via an amendment to the Scotch Whisky Technical File. As it turns out, before that time exotic casks like those previously containing Calvados were not explicitly forbidden, but the Scotch Whisky Association did advise to only use cask with “sufficient proof of traditional use” within the industry. Obviously, bourbon and sherry casks belong to this category. I guess Arran already felt safe enough to use Calvados around the turn of the century. We are going to taste the result.
Arran 10 years old, Arran Barley, bottled at 50 % abv
First things first: Local barley grown at the south end of Arran, we read, the Bellevue Farm. The barley type used was Optic, a rather regular variant. This is the limited batch 001 of 18.000 bottles. The bottle makes no mention of casks, but on the website we find information telling us this was matured in first fill bourbon barrels and second fill sherry hogsheads, more or less in the same balance as the regular 10 years old. The Arran Barley will be an annual release offering variation in crop types and casks used.
Upon Sipping: When all is said and done, we turn to experiencing! The nose is vanilla fresh, like squeaky clean sheets just out of the dryer. The barley you can easily detect, mixed with dry grass and hey, and the slightest hint of salinity. The sea breezes over the farmlands. But there are also subtle fruity notes, mostly green apples and overripe pears. Quite a delicious nose, very malt forward, how we like it! The taste is more complex than your average vanilla-forward bourbon cask matured malt, and that is a relief. I feared it would be too simple, judging by the nose, but far from it. It opens up on quite a heavy spiciness from the wood, with light herbal touches, bound together by the vanilla, yes, but creating a very oily mouthfeel. The cinnamon on the finish gives a kick, leaning towards crushed black pepper down the line.
At the current abv, Arran gives us a lot of wiggle room to play with water ourselves. I like that! The nose does not change all that much, but the viscosity seems to become even bolder.
I do not remember Arran being so “thick” on the tongue, but I like it a lot. It remains hot in a spicy way, I have to say, and keeps a straight face all the way. More tropicality on the finish on repeated sips.
Word to the Wise: This bottle oozes brilliance from start to finish. It remains in a narrow lane all the way, but never gets boring. All elements are on full display. I must admit I was a bit disappointed that Arran choose to use “just” Optic barley, but if they intend to use this inaugural as a benchmark, subsequent batches have a challenge cut out for them.
Score: 88 points.
Arran Limited Edition – Single Cask Malt, bottled at 60,8 abv
First things first: We know that this Arran malt was bottled on 8 February 2005, but we do not know when it was distilled. The back label mentions initial maturation in a sherry cask “for many years”, before it was poured in a fresh Calvados cask. Three hundred bottles were released.
Upon Sipping: An impressive abv on what can only be, at the max, a 9 years old whisky. Arran started production in August 1995. I suspect this expression is little younger. Nosing is not very easy, but we are not far removed from the Arran Barley above, in that we get a full range of “yellow” smells, like aniseed, vanilla and (obviously) apples. On the tongue, the cask influence is much more noticeable, with a dry apple flavoured entrance. Lots of sweetness, that combines well with the original fruity Arran spirit. The dry character turns more into sticky toffee pudding when you swallow it, but the overall experience is very pleasant. Very drinkable too at this crazy rocket fuel strength. With water, the barley takes the reigns again on the nose, before the apples return. It is like that children’s game where they have to bite an apple out of a bucket of water. Fresh and playful, but when you are too enthusiastic the apples dip below the surface. The sticky palate is something you need to like, and the exotic cask does make its presence known, but the integration is good so it all works like a charm. Water is not really needed, but does deliver variations.
Word to the Wise: This Arran Calvados Cask turns out to be a hidden gem among the releases out of the early days of the distillery. I was quite surprised to see it work so well, so that’s beautiful. Good use of an exotic cask that does not eclipse the original product at all. Now, to state that this originally matured in a sherry cask seems unreal to me, but perhaps a very dead third fill? Who cares, when the result is so satisfying.
Score: 86 points.