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Richard-ModernDrinking
Reviewed November 29, 2020 (edited August 26, 2022)An amped-up version of the 10, with aromas of green apples, chocolate powder, crumbled dried shiitake mushrooms and the topping of a sticky toffee pudding. The palate is gentle and leans towards milk chocolate. The finish is ginger spice and the partly dissolved brown sugar at the bottom of your tea cup. A step up from its younger sibling but still a little muted on the palate to warrant a space in my drinks cabinet. -
dhsilv2
Reviewed November 12, 2020 (edited November 23, 2020)OK so I've now figured it out. This is a 2019 which is HEAVILY sherried cause the color is crazy dark, the bottle of course doesn't say a dang thing about it. The 2018 I gave a 2.0 is less sherry but still has plenty. Ok so is this one better? Nose - caramel, salt, tannins, oak, raisins. You can tell this is a heavy sherried whisky but and this is a neck pour but it's a bit closed off. We'll see if this opens up and I'll update. Taste - you can tell this is heavily sherried but these aren't great casks. Yeah you get some chocolate and raisin and some dark fruity esters. The malt here is actually pretty dry. Where this and all arrans seem to shine is on the finish where that island and peat and salt elements jump up and save the day. The finish is this explosive array of wonderful and then it turns AGAIN into chocolates and oak. So for science water, and the nose....just brings out oak. The flavor brings out a milk chocolate up front but kinda kills the finish....or mutes it. Water might be good if you don't like the upfront finish but otherwise pass. Ok so I do like this a hair more than the 2018 but I like more sherry on my whisky in general. 2.5 and to be honest I could go 3.0 here. It's above average for sure and I think the last bottle needs a boost on the score. You know what 2.75 Update - lets get into this. OK so I'm still not sure what these casks are doing or not. How is this so dark and not just sherry saturated to hell? The thing is the malt, that salty coastal element, etc...they're great. And the sherry is big enough to match but not even close to over powering. This is a dream in today's world of oak stuffed bad casks or sulfured egg fart bottles. The flavor on this one is light vs most bottles I give higher scores to and normally I want peat mixed in. But I'm wrong to underrate this one. I'm moving this to a 3.25. These arran 18's are stunners. They're also CRAZY easy to drink. -
Daniel-Emerson
Reviewed October 18, 2020Sweet, the sherry really comes through. Oaky & rich. Not particularly complex & liked it best with a few dashes of water.100.0 USD per Bottle -
dhsilv2
Reviewed October 13, 2020 (edited November 12, 2020)Nose - Right away sherry and charred american oak barrels jump out to me. Sweet fruits with roasted vanilla and caramel. There's a light note of either peat or salt, I don't know much about Arran but perhaps it's coastal or they use the ever so slightest amount of peat. Shoulda looked at the bottle, but it's an island so that makes perfect sense. Overall there's a more rustic and older more hearty malt nose but the lower abv at 46 is leaving me a bit flat at the end. Still very interesting nose that keeps me coming back. Taste - This takes me back to the charred american oak though instead of richer sweetness it's more soft oak tannins with some richness in that french vanilla toasted sugar range, but more focus on the toasted barrel flavor. Then we get sea salt and chocolate with little hints of fruits at most. There's a slightly bitter/metallic note that brings me back to a springbank type dram, a very nice complement. There's a touch of a waxy muted note. Overall a well made 18 year old whisky at a reasonable all be it a bit low proof. So the verdict? Will I buy another bottle? Nope. Would I be happy to get a free bottle? Yep. Will I happily finish this bottle? You're damn right. So 2.0 it's a pretty average whisky in today's world of quality drams. After some time open I'm upping to 2.5, that finish is still a step up.99.99 USD per Bottle
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