This review was originally part of a group review with my friends over at Malt Runners! Pop on over to see their thoughts on this dram or see reviews of over 1,000 other whiskies/spirits.
Raygun’s Introduction: Back again with another Taiwan purchase, this one an OB Arran single cask selected by and bottled for Heng Jiou, a favorite shop of mine. Tried a sample on a visit there and that persuaded me to get a bottle even though it was steep. Arran only started distilling in 1995, so this bottle was laid down in that first year. A bit of history.
Distillery: Arran
Bottler: Arran
Region/style: Islands single malt Scotch
ABV: 48.9%. Cask strength
Age: 25 years. Distilled on November 15, 1995. Bottled on February 11, 2021.
Cask type: Hogshead #230, 291 bottles.
Color: 0.5, Yellow Gold. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Price: $350
Nose: The nose starts off a lot more alcoholic than the ABV suggests that it should be. Thankfully, a little bit of time in the glass seems to take most of that away. The smell reminds me a lot of one of those perfume sample strips that’s been left out for a bit with an emphasis on something that reminds me of laminated paper. A little bit of leather polish comes through as well. Holding the dram a little further away from me and smelling gives off some dunnage warehouse smells along with a bit of lemon as well.
Palate: I’d describe this as very much a classic Arran flavor profile. There are a lot of brighter fruit notes with lemon, lychee, and golden kiwi coming to mind. Towards the back half it turns into a bit more of a salted caramel note to provide some depth. A bit of water changes things up quite a bit. The fresh, bright fruit notes get toned down a bit and instead you get liquid milk chocolate with some caramel. A little bit of a baked dessert element starts to take hold as well – Millionaires shortbread perhaps? Some baked banana notes pop in after a while as well which remind me of banana brownies.
Finish: Medium-to-short in length. Bruleed bananas and a bit of overripe melon.
Conclusion: For all of my love of Arran, I haven’t had a lot from the distillery’s first year of operation. In fact, this might be the first stated 1995 distillate I’ve reviewed from them (though I do have a bottle from Arran’s first ever distillation run that will eventually be reviewed). It is really nice to see that the distillery’s fruity, tropical character that I love so much were present from very early on. The nose on this is a fun one, with a bit reminding me of being in the perfume aisle at Sephora and the rest of it reminding me of standing in a dunnage warehouse. The fruit flavors in the palate are delicious and the change to more baked good notes with water are a ton of fun with a solid finish to wrap things up. Overall, really tasty. Would I buy a bottle though? Unfortunately, at $350, it probably is a bit hard to justify.
Final Score: 85
Scotch Whisky Review #469, Island Review #75, Whisky Network Review #627
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Scotch & Sheen 
