Like the previous BenRiach, this one was used in a whisky tasting. I pitted it against is NAS sibling from bourbon casks, called ‘The Bothy’. I’ll review that one shortly.

Apart from being on Arran last year, there’s not much to say about the whisky. There’s no age stated, nor a lot of other information. If Arran does the typical Arran thing, it’s drawn from an American oak sherry casks and since it states ‘Sherry Hogshead’ that is extremely likely to have happened.

During the long weekend a month ago, when it was Pentecost/Whitsunday, I took this and the bourbon cask on our camping trip and they were very well received, very similar to when I hosted the tasting.

Let’s find out if this one also holds up to a bit of scrutiny!

Sniff:
Arran is really creating a style for themselves. The fact that I know this means that they’ve been at it for a while. There’s baked apple and the thick dried fruit notes of sherry with the more vanilla and coconut notes of American oak. Very typical indeed.

Sip:
The palate brings quite a bit of a peppery punch because of the higher ABV. The dried fruits, dates, plums, are very present. There’s some baked apple too, but there’s not much left of barley or ‘pure’ spirity notes. A very active cask approach, which also is rather typical for the distillery.

Swallow:
The finish is much more gentle than the palate, and brings some surprising notes. More wood, some charcoal from the cask’s charring. There’s a whiff of balsamic vinegar and much more oak than before.

A colleague stated ‘this one is Christmas, and the other one is summer’. I couldn’t agree more. She definitely got the idea of the different casks, if you ask me.

It’s a bit too simple to warrant a higher score, but this is very drinkable stuff that is well worth the € 50 / € 60 being asked for it!

86/100