Arran Private Cask

I'm reviewing this here because I couldn't upload a new entry despite trying several times. Mine is a 9 year, this one say 6, but other than that, this is a generic entry as Arran Private Cask, so it will have to suffice. I don't know about you, but I'll let you in on a secret: I'm a little less interested in the reviews of niche whiskies here. Private casks you can only get in one spot that you can't get anywhere else. This is one of those. Don't get me wrong, I'm interested in drinking it. These whiskies feel a little more special than your garden variety mass produced bottlings. The reason I'm not interested in reading such reviews is that even if you love it, generally, I can't get my hands on it. You feel me? My buddy sent this one to me for Christmas. I sent him a bottle of Old Elk Port Cask Finish; he sent me this. This is one of his favorite scotches. It's an Arran 9 Year, Private Cask bottled exclusively for Liquor Warehouse in Chi-town. And it's damn good. It's aged, it's barrel strength, and the only problem is that on the bottle, it states, "This peated bourbon barrel single cask, and I'm like, honestly, I think you're fucking with me. There's absolutely no peat here. My buddy even admitted, don't expect peat. And I was like ok, I've already tasted it and I know that, and it confounded my expectations because I like it. In fact, it's very good, but don't fuck with me by putting peat on the bottle and having no smoke involved, you feel me? Otherwise, delectable. The nose is very grassy, it's like you're driving into a blossming field of heather laced with honey. Slight edge of mint, slight edge of citrus. Vanilla, of course. Very spring to summertime type of whisky. Very refreshing, very down on the farm. Honestly, I had a bottle of Speyburn Companion Cask open, which is a single barrel variation on the 10, from what I could tell, and this feels like a heightened version of that. The palate here is a dry white scotch. That's the only way I can put it. It tastes like the equivalent of a very dry white wine. The grassiness continues. It's spicy with baking spices, cardamom, nutmeg. This is an unusual whisky for me, I don't often go in for things like this. But it is delicious, don't get me wrong. Aside from the grassy notes, the vanilla is prominent, and on the finish, it becomes peppery with a white light peppery note that lingers a long time. Altogether an excellent whisky, and I've thanked my friend for sending it along. Our next tasting together, as we buy similar bottles and taste them over FaceTime, will be the Dickel and Leopold Rye Collaboration, and I'm looking forward to it. There's still a quarter bottle left in this Arran so I'm looking forward to that too. The only other Arran I've had has been the Robert Burns, and that was a fantastic budget scotch. I apologize if this isn't of much interest except to those living in Chicago or who have buddies living in Chicago, but there it is. That's where we are. A red check in the upper right hand corner with a good score only really means, nah nah nah nah nah, you can't get this. Or in the famous words of Eddie Murphy: "I've got some ice cream, and you can't have none, cause you on welfare!" Only, you know, except for the welfare part.