Scotch Whisky Review #242: The Arran Malt 12 Year Cask Strength

Distillery: Arran

Region: Island

Age: 12 Year.

ABV: 52.8%

Color: 0.9, Amontillado Sherry. Natural Color and Un-Chill Filtered.

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Nose: It’s quite zesty, fruity, and a tad zingy. It’s a strange mix of underripe citrus and a green grapes that are starting to ferment.

Palate: There’s a lot of an earthy malt along with damp hay. A little bit of lemon pops in here and there as well. With some water, it gets sweeter with what seems like pure sugar water coming through.

Finish: Medium in length. The damp hay continues here. There’s a little bit of fruit in her e as well in the form of green apple. It’s rather astringent and leaves a very bitter and poor aftertaste.

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Conclusion: Arran at cask strength. Should be tasty, no? Well, about that… This one was pretty bad. It has a very interesting smell with a strange mix of underripe citrus and fermenting grapes. It tastes rather…boring with a bit of earthy malt and damp hay. But up until here, it’s still drinkable though boring. The problems seem to come in the finish. It’s incredibly astringent and very bitter. Even after watering it down, it doesn’t change. While I’m sure it is possible (even likely) that this mini went bad, this one will live in the memory as being rather unpleasant.

Final Score: 59.

Scotch Whisky Review #242, Island Review #40, Whisky Network Review #367

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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.