Scotch Review #62: The Arran Malt 14 Year

Distillery: Arran

Region: Island

ABV: 46%

Age: 14 Year

Price: $75

Color: 0.9, Amontillado Sherry. Natural color and non-chill-filtered.

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Nose (according to the wife): Young oak, celery, and old apples (right before they start to ferment). Maybe it’s closer to apple cider?

Palate: The mouthfeel is on the slightly syrupy side but it manages to be in the goldilocks zone of sweetness (just right, not too sweet). It reminds me a lot of agave nectar. There’s loads of fresh fruit notes in here, starting off with a lovely green apple, followed by pears (I thought Korean but its probably closer to a bosc pear), and ended with some lovely champagne grapes. Absolutely delicious. There’s a bit of oak spice but not a whole lot.

Finish: Medium to short in length. There’s some fresh-cut grass that gives a bit of a drying effect along with some dry oak.

Conclusion: If you served this to me blind, I would have pinned this being a lovely, fruity Speyside dram. The layers of fruit in the palate are absolutely delicious, especially since the apples, pears, and champagne grapes marry so well along with the agave nectar. The finish is drying which is pretty nice with this since it cuts off any sweetness lingering from the palate before it gets too sweet. I’m not a huge fan of the nose but on the whole, this dram is fantastic. Would I buy another bottle? Oh yes.

Final Score: 82.

Scotch whisky review #62, Island review #9, Whisky Network Review #83

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.