Christmas Countdown 2020 #21: Arran 21 Year The Green Welly Stop Exclusive (1997)

Distillery: Arran

Region: Island.

Age: 21 Year. Distilled June 9th, 1997. Bottled September 5th, 2018.

ABV: 55.3%

Cask Type: Sherry Butt

Cask Number: 841

Color: 1.1, Burnished. Natural Color and Un-Chill Filtered.

This is the 21st installment of this years’ Christmas Countdown. You can see the entire 2020 series here or the 2019 edition here.

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Nose: It’s a fruity one, though it’s not fresh fruit. I’m reminded of Jolly Ranchers and other hard candies. Green apple and lemon flavored Jolly Ranchers are my first impression along with banana Runts and pineapple Life Savers.

Palate: It’s fruity from the start. Pineapple juice is the main note up with all of its prickly goodness. A bit of lemon pops in as well. There are some berries here and again.

Finish: Long. More of the pineapple and berries. There’s a little bit of chili pepper as well.

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Conclusion: If you ever needed an example of the more tropical nature that Arran can bring, look no further than this one. Pineapples are the name of the game and it’s there from start to finish. The nose is really interesting with several fruity hard candies. After that, it does get a bit simplistic and heavy on the pineapple though. It’s not bad and it is a good display of Arran’s summery side, but I’d expect a lot more from an old Arran that I’m not getting here.

Final Score: 81.

Scotch Whisky Review #239, Island Review #38, Whisky Network Review #363

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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.