Arran 10 Year

Tasted with David on 6/19/2020 Islands. Natural color, Unchill Filtered. An incredible Scotch. Sweet, citrusy, smokey, but not meaty. Full mouth feel. Medium burn. Honey, vanilla. Just an explosion in the mouth. I love it. Must Have.

Rich honey and grass notes on the nose. Vanilla ice cream on the palate with honey then butterscotch Angel Delight on the sweetest finish. A beautiful summery dram.

Rating: 13/23 This immediately strikes me as quite similar to BenRiach 10. N: The BenRiach has a slightly fuller nose with more sugar water, whereas this has a time bit of smoke and hay coming through. I do get sultana here as well. It smells sweet with a classic highland profile, but on the thin side. P: I get that sweetness with the golden raisins as the fruit along with a dash of smoke, grain, salt, and dried grass. It's malty, but not as much as BenRiach 10 is. This is the classic highland profile, but it isn't terribly interesting. I do like it a bit more than BenRiach 10 because it has a little more of a Springbank 10 influence to it, but it doesn't have much. This is a bit thinner and harsher than BenRiach 10 as well, but those faults are balanced by the reduced alcohol flavor. There might be a faint hint of apricot here, but it's probably sultana. Maybe it's a slight bit of tangerine F: The finish is a mellower version of the palate. The syrupy sweetness lingers along with the dried grass and some slightly malty grain and a hint of fruit, but the flavors are light at this point. I spent a lot of time side-by-siding this with BenRiach 10 because of their obvious similarities. I'd say that these two are pretty evenly matched, but I'd give the Arran 10 the slight edge. It's a 12-13 to BenRiach 10's 12.

The 14yr was solid so gave this a go. Poured neat, noses uncooked pasta with some malt hints along with the fresh air after a heavy rain. Fruit is restrained imo save for some banana peel. Palate is tangy apple tinted rich malt with barrel and pepper spice. It tastes younger than 10 yrs with youthful sharpness. Perhaps some of the casks are a little tired. Hell I know I usually am. Despite this flavor is deep and I am enjoying. Finishes with lasting malty barrel and light tropical fruit. Fairly long without bitterness. Not a world beater but this one grows on you.....84/100 ...........wait a minute, give this bottle a bit of time and it comes in nicely. Approaches Deanston territory which for me is a big compliment. Has a nice thickness to it and just an overall goodness that elevates score to near A rating of 88...........see note..90/100