Whisky Tastings: Arran Malt's Cask Finish Series

L-R: Arran Port Cask finish, Amarone Cask Finish and Sauternes Cask Finish

This is a long overdue post to highlight one of the Whisky Tasting events that I went to earlier this month. One good thing about Singapore is that the whisky bars here do schedule regular tasting sessions to showcase new products, offering a great chance to try some great new whiskies. Many thanks to The Highlander Bar Asia for the invite to this tasting of the Isle of Arran Single Malt Cask Finish series tasting. I will seek to do a write up on the Highlander Bar soon.

The Isle of Arran Malt Whisky is considered an Island whisky, but as mentioned in the previous post on the Talisker 18, the differing conditions on the islands of Scotland mean differing characteristics for the whiskies that come out of them. Arran Malt is a relatively new company, founded in 1995, but it has established itself as one of the dynamic new forces in the world of Scotch whiskies, and one of the ways they have done so is by experimenting intensively with different cask finishes. What this means is that after maturation in standard barrels (this differs for different distillery), the whiskies are transferred to a separate set of casks to 'finish' for anything from a few months to a year. These casks almost definitely used to contain some other beverage, mostly different types of wine, and hence the flavours of the wine that were contained in the barrel are infused into the whisky during this final period of maturation.

In the case of the Arran Malt, the experimentation culminated in an official release of 3 cask finishes, namely the Amarone, Port and Sauternes finishes. These were the whiskies that were offered during the tasting.

Name: The Arran Malt Amarone Cask Finish
Distillery: Arran
Region: Island (Isle of Arran)
Age Statement: 8 Years Old
Type: Single Malt
Alc/Vol: 50%

The Amarone Cask Finish, as it suggests, uses casks that used to contain Amarone, a sweet dry wine from Italy. This was the biggest and strongest of the lot that we tasted

Nose: Nice and open for a relatively high alcoholic percentage. Salted cashews, melted milk chocolate and faint floral notes

Taste/Palate: Salted butter with thick flavours of pears and strawberries, mixed with cocoa

Finish: Oaky dryness with lovely lingering flavours of fragrant pears

Overall: The Amarone Cask Finish was pretty powerful but nicely balanced with fruity flavours. I personally felt it was pleasant, but not something to really write home about. 82/100


Name: The Arran Malt Port Wood Finish
Distillery: Arran

Region: Island (Isle of Arran)
Age Statement: 8 Years Old

Type: Single Malt
Alc/Vol: 50%

Port Cask finishes are getting more and more popular these days, with companies like The Balvenie, Glenmorangie and BenRiach releasing their own expressions of such finishes. This one was a lot gentler than the Amarone, and was actually really good in my honest opinion.

Nose: Very fruity with hints of berries on a salted butter crust, balanced nicely with the aromas of honey.

Taste/Palate: The influence of the Port is very much apparent with fruity and floral notes along with the butter and caramel. Berry gum drops. The port sweetness coats the mouth, leaving a pleasant mouthfeel.

Finish: The port sweetness comes to the fore with a hint of spice and oakiness from the wood. Sweet and lingering.

Overall: My personal favourite of the night. It was nice and balanced and very pleasant to drink. But I agree that the sweetness may not be everyone's cup of tea. 87/100

Name: The Arran Malt Sauternes Finish

Distillery: Arran
Region: Island (Isle of Arran)
Age Statement: 8 Years Old

Type: Single Malt
Alc/Vol: 50%

This expression was finished in Sauternes casks which used to hold the famous French dessert wine. Mostly Sauternes finishes have a strong sweet finish to it, and this one was no different.

Nose: Fruity notes of cherries mixed with vanilla. Notes of caramel and butter also apparent.

Taste/Palate: Spicy with a nice honey sweetness with the influence of the wine bring up the rear.

Finish: Extremely sweet finish thanks to the wine, with a slight hint of watermelon.

Overall: The Sauternes Cask Finish is very much an example of how the wine can influence the whisky. The sweetness of the Sauternes is well and truly prevalent here. Sadly I found it a tad too sweet for my liking. 81/100

Where to Find: Altimate Spirits, The Highlander Bar