Six months after the last batch sold out, the award-winning Isle of Arran Distillery has announced another release of the latest edition of the Amarone Cask Finish Single Malt.
The Amarone wine finish is initially matured in traditional oak casks over a number of years (exact age is not disclosed) then ‘finished’ in a selection of Amarone wine casks sourced from an artisan producer of this iconic Italian red wine, making this quite a “red” tinted whisky indicating quite a bit of wine influence. As always the Amarone finish is bottled at 50% NCF, naturally colored. Young-ish whisky matured / finished in wine casks is often quite tannic and wine-y, let’s see how the latest batch of Amarone finish, fares…
Arran Amarone wine finish , 50% abv, £50
Nose: Quite alcoholic on the nose, letting it settle down or adding a few drops of water is advisable IMHO. The nose is quite fruity, with red fruit,mainly red berries, a hint of peach, and quite some wood and almonds, it’s rather tannic , but quite sweet as well.
Palate: Thicker on the palate, with barley notes, more fruit, this time cherry infused chocolate Bon-Bons , marzipan, some wood spices, mainly cinnamon. Bitter sweet, and some big wine tannins as well, drying and getting bitter towards the end.
Finish: bitter sweet, almond, bitter oak, cherry ‘eau de vie’.
I don’t know if it’s me that has changed, or the whisky has slightly improved, but I like this whisky wee bit more than the earlier batch I tasted and blogged about way back in 2011 (scoring 80/100). This is not as Tannic and not as raging as I remember it, and is a bit more restrained and complex, although it’s not my favorite of the Arran range. Good progress though. Quite a nice sipper if you’re a wine infused whisky lover, or just in the mood for some wine enhanced whisky. A bit ‘rough’ at times, and ‘simple’, don’t forget to add water, at 50% it’s just a bit harsh.
Score: 81/100
How do we get it ?
avaiable in most shops…