Another Interesting Exclusive to TWE this time an older 1996 Arran single malt bottled March 2021 after 24 years in a single cask – record-keeping at Arran back then wasn’t as good as it is today, and TWE don’t know for certain what type of cask it was . However, they think it’s a wine cask of some kind (Sherry? other?)
A 24-year-old Arran is indeed promising. I do think Arrans benefit quite a lot from long aging, so there’s something to forward ahead for…
Arran 1996 24 yo Cask 757 {TWE Exclusive} , 53.4% , £199
Nose: A nice and quite different nose that I’d expected: feels like sour wine upfront, with hints of tobacco humidors and wood spices galore. It’s quite dark, with some lapsang tea notes, and subtle smoke, but also quite fruity with dark red fruit and orange marmalade, lemon rind. Quite a nice profile, complex and I am loving the smoky black tea/tobacco notes – certainly not your textbook Arran.
Palate: Starting spicy and sweet, with hints of licorice, pepper, chilly and cardamom, and more of the tobacco we’re noticed on the nose. Nutty and sweet, with fruit N’ Nut milk chocolate, earthy and damp, candied orange skins, with some sulfur for sure, gunpowder you can call it if you wish. Sticky fudge sweet notes on the ending with more of the tobacco/smoked Lapsang teas, plums maybe. Rich, spicy, and deep.
Finish : Long, the smoke and tobacco go a long way, giving way to salty burnt caramel.
Conclusion: A cracking dram this is! Yes, it’s a big wine/sherry bomb sort of dram, and not your textbook Arran, but It’s very very good if you’re into this sort of whisky. I know I am! Highly recommended this, but you should know it’s not cheap at £199. But what is cheap these days? Never mind what cask it came from – It’s excellent!
Score: 90/100
Available on the TWE site, be quick as it already sold out a week ago , if you fancy one.
That does sound excellent! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Cheers, Ed