Scotch Whisky Review #186: Rest & Be Thankful Arran 16 Year (1998)

Distillery: Arran

Bottler: Rest & Be Thankful Whisky Co.

Region: Isle of Arran

Price: $12 for 2 oz.

ABV: 56.8% Cask Strength

Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon

Cask Number: 98/820

Age: 16 Year. Distilled on June 9th, 1998. Bottled on Feb 23rd, 2015.

Color: 1.3, Russet/Muscat. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered.

Nose: Freshly cut tropical fruit, specifically pineapple, dominates here. You even get the little bit of prickle from it. There’s also a little bit of orange marmalade and a bit of aged oak.

Palate: It has a fairly oily mouthfeel. The tropical fruits and pineapples from the nose continues on here along with a bit of pear. Some oak and pepper pop up as well to give this a little bit of spice. With water, the spiciness does cool with the pineapple and pear notes becoming more intense.

Finish: Medium to long in length. The finish reminds me of a slightly Southeast Asian spicy sweet chili sauce. Specifically, I was thinking of what you get when you mix a bit of sambal sauce with sweet chili sauce. There’s a bit of sweetness with a bit of tang along with the deep spice flavor, flavors that are distinctly Southeast Asian.

Conclusion: If you had a tropical vacation cancelled this year, this whisky might help ease the pain a little bit. Starting from the nose, you get a lot of tropical fruit. It continues on into the palate with lots of fresh pineapple. The finish brings about a really lovely combination of sweet chili sauce and sambal sauce that makes you keep going back for more. Absolutely delicious. Would I buy a bottle? Yes!

Final Score: 85.

Scotch Whisky Review #186, Island Review #27, Whisky Network Review #257

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.