cascode
Arran 25 Year (Virtual Whisky Tasting - 51.2% ABV)
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed
November 10, 2022 (edited November 13, 2022)
Nose: Musky red berries, dusky oak cask, sandalwood sawdust and peach tea are the immediate impression. With time to rest you notice dark cherries, dark chocolate and an ever-evolving oloroso sherry aroma. A touch of maritime brine appears after more time. Water brings out the fragrant wood notes and “blooms” the nose very well.
Palate: Soft, warming arrival of berries, black cherry and malt, but the flavours are quiet and reserved. The development finds a gentle spiced orange note reminiscent of Amaro Montenegro, tea-cake with sultanas and orange peel, dried dates and figs, and some walnut skin bitterness. The texture is good and is improved by a drop of water, which also highlights a peppery flavour and develops a brown-sugar and treacle quality.
Finish: Medium. Malt extract and mixed berry muesli bar. It trails to bittersweet cocoa powder and dry sherry notes in the aftertaste. Water extends the length.
A very good whisky, but lacking a certain “wow” factor and eye-wateringly overpriced. I can buy literally nine bottles of any of the Arran cask-finished expressions for the same money as one bottle of this, and I would enjoy each of those other bottles more.
The nose is a textbook old sherry cask affair, and for me the best part of the story. It has progression and evolves with time and dilution (but take care not to over-dilute). The palate was good, but less impressive. It also has layers and develops nicely but there is an evolving tannic note that unbalances it just a bit. Fortunately, it regains its composure in the finish, which is very good.
I’m a fan of Arran whiskies but having now tasted some of the older expressions I have to say that I think they reach their apex (as age statement whiskies anyway) with the 18 year old. Looking at my tasting journal I've rated both the 21 and 25 year olds lower than the old 14 year expression, The Bothy, and all of the cask finished expressions. This is interesting because almost all these Arrans I like better are at least 50% abv, so it may just be that for my palate it’s a whisky that needs a certain intensity and vibrancy of youth in order to shine. (Oh, and before someone calls me out by saying that this 25 year old is 51.2% abv, no it's not. That is a mistake on the Distiller listing. The core range 25 has always been 46% but there have been Single Cask 25 year olds that were over 50%. Interestingly, there has never been an Arran 25 with a strength of 51.2%, as far as I'm aware).
I should also note that all the samples of older age statement whiskies I've recently tried were from a virtual tasting set and were packed in small plastic bags (see photo) that held mingy 15ml samples. 15ml is not enough to allow you to really get into a whisky, and certainly not enough to taste it both neat and watered to various dilutions. I don’t like these plastic packs one bit and I wonder if that affected my tasting impressions? I also can’t help but wonder whether they do not preserve the whisky as well as glass sample bottles.
Initially I was going to give this the same rating as the 21 year old, but I think it’s a fraction superior so I’m taking it up one percentage point which just pushes it across the 4 star line, but I would never consider buying a bottle at the price.
“Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)
899.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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@cascode. Great analysis. I think I will start using distilled 2006 and later as my bellwether for older Arran purchases.
@angstrom I think you’re absolutely right. The first juice ran in 1995 and it usually takes a few years to get things dialled in, sometimes a lot longer. The Arran releases that I tasted in the early 2000s were pretty rugged and it wasn’t until the Devil’s Punchbowl bottling (some time around 2010 I think) that I thought the distillery really hit its stride. The 18 year first came out in 2015 so it would have been from 1997 spirit runs. I liked it, but it had a very malty, ale-like and meaty character. The current 18 year old which would be from around 2004 is a better whisky IMHO. When the 25 came out in 2020 it must have been from the distillery’s very earliest spirit runs, and even now it must be from around 1997 at best. Apart from learning how to manage everything, modern distilleries tend to start off by making a spirit style engineered to mature fast and be pleasant when very young so they can make money to support the business. Such spirit does not cope well with very long maturation. In these cases the spirit style is often tweaked a few years later. I have no idea if this was the case at Arran, but if it was then batches of the 25 year might be much better in a few years. Another thing I just thought of – James McTaggart took over as manager in 2005 (I think) which could be another reason why the younger expressions are more outstanding (well, for me anyway).
I love that “to-go” pouch ! It’s like the apple sauce pouches at the grocery store.
Could some of the issues with highly aged Arran be due to the fact the distillery opened in 1995? They were still learning, both on distilling, wood management, and aging? Supposedly the 10 yr now is dramatically better than the 10 yr a decade ago.
@DrRHCMadden Cheers, photo added now.
No photo Sir. You can’t edit text and add photo at same time. You’ll need to edit the review and add it again. Really interesting to see that you found the higher ABV bottles the shining stars. I definitely do think they are brighter and more characterful. But I found the old stuff really refined and well delivered. I may get a chance to try again. I actually managed to get another bordeaux as a 30 ml in glass last night. I don’t see myself buying a 21 or 25 though, prohibitively expensive, and as you say the bothy is a stand in for 21 and I’d argue the bodega is a good stand in for the 18/25. Excellent as always from you Sir, slainte.