Jose-Massu-Espinel
Arran The Devil's Punch Bowl Chapter III The Fiendish Finale
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed
October 17, 2021 (edited October 18, 2021)
A now iconic fancy bottle form Arran, is this "The Devil's Punch Bowl" III, which was a limited release of only 6660 bottles, and the whisky was drawn from 21 different casks: 7 Sherry Butts, 7 French Oak Casks and 7 ex-bourbon Barrels.
The Devil's Punch Bowl III is the third release in the collection and it is labeled as "The Fiendish Finale". It gets its name from a mountain zone in the isle of Arran, and also makes reference to a "Punch Bowl" by mixing 21 casks for this exceptional dram.
Bottled at 53.4% abv, tawny color.
On the nose, perfect score. Oranges, sherry, tangerine, peaches and brown sugar. Milk chocolate appears after a few minutes, very winey. Banana, milk powder, cream and vanilla. Tropical aromas are rising. After a first sip, it released orange caramel, "Palo Santo", hazelnut, pecans and orange leaf. More sips made the aroma even better, with herbal notes, red fruits and coconut. It is literally a punch. I loved it.
On the palate; it was delicious. Starts with milk chocolate, hazelnut, almonds. It is exactly like a Ritter's white chocolate. Peaches and tropical flavors; coconut, ashy and salty. Great.
Aftertaste was great, with hints of peaty feelings. Pepper, ginger; oranges and tobacco. Chilli, earthy and ashy. Mild spiciness, very well delivered.
Overall, this is an outstanding dram. Very complex, layers and layers of flavors and aromas can be found in here. Lovely looking bottle, with an amazing case, holding a superb juice, that is my kind of dram. My score for it is 94 over 100.
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@cascode :O That's a level of depth that could lead one to wonder whether the devil reference might be more than just a joke!
@ContemplativeFox The number 777 has an association with Aleister Crowley. Maybe Arran were up to more than meets the eye 😲
@PBMichiganWolverine i haven't had them.... yet ;)
@ContemplativeFox best comment ever
@PBMichiganWolverine Chipping in - I had bottles from all 3 batches. They were different in profile but with a certain similarity as well, and they were uniformly excellent. I still have one bottle of this final 2014 batch in my long-term stash.
Missed opportunity to use 6 Sherry, 6 french oak, and 6 bourbon. I guess that probably wouldn't have given them 6660 bottled though :P
@Jose-Massu-Espinel there were two predecessors before this I think? Were those any good?
@cascode yes my friend! it was amazing. luckily i managed to get my hands on 2 bottles :)
Oh you lucky lad - well done. Bottles of this are as rare as hen's teeth now. It was/is a stunning whisky from the distillery's early days.