cascode
ARRAN RARE BATCH 15 YEAR OLD ARGONNE CASK
Single Malt — Island, Scotland
Reviewed
March 23, 2023 (edited April 5, 2023)
Nose: Full-bodied fruity and wine aromas, modulated by some excellent wood (cedarwood and sandalwood in particular). Stewed fruit compote of apples, pears and cranberries. Honey, orange water and an elusive almost-but-not-quite ashy quality which is most likely coming from what were probably very lightly toasted wine casks. There is a rich, encompassing quality to this nose that brings you back repeatedly. It’s also not a thousand miles away from the profile of Highland Park, which is never a bad thing, and adding water creates an explosion of honey and orange making the similarity even more distinct. An outstanding nose.
Palate: Full but soft arrival, with some delicate spices (sweet ginger) and fragrant herbs dancing over honey and fruit flavours. The texture is voluminous, velvety and very satisfying. Porridge with salt, cream and fresh berries in the development which transitions to softly drying tannins towards the finish. The wine notes are present again contributing sweet and fractionally bitter aspects to the foundation. With water the palate gains a luxurious aspect that makes it dangerously compelling. An excellent palate.
Finish: Long. Quiet and subtle spices, honey, sweet citrus notes and freshly prepared weak rose-hip tea. There is the faintest possible citric note in the aftertaste. Water does nothing to damage the finish, in fact I thought it actually made it longer and more languid.
This is a re-taste, thanks to @DrRHCMadden. I initially tried this whisky six months ago but that tasting was from a 15ml virtual tasting session sample that was shipped in a plastic “juice bag” (we need to express our dissatisfaction with those gizmos - they are a wretched way to treat good spirits). If you can be bothered reading that review (it appears below) you’ll note that my comments are almost the same as before, but more enthusiastic now.
This sample, which was provided in a proper 30ml glass sample jar, is clearly superior in every way. The finish in particular is significantly better and as this was my only big reservation previously I’m delighted to be able to revise my former score upwards.
This time round the whisky seems much fresher, more alive and notably richer and more buttery/creamy. There is not the slightest sign of heat when it is neat (at 53.5%) and I did not feel the need to add water. However given the generous tasting dram I was able to split it into two glasses and taste them neat and diluted in comparison. Both glasses were delightful.
As it sits and evolves in the glass this whisky draws more and more towards Highland Park in profile, and I would almost equate it in quality with HP18 year old, so I’m scoring it accordingly.
“Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)
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Previous review, originally posted October 21, 2022
Nose: Fruity malt, white wine, tropical fruit, aromatic wood (cedar, sandalwood and teak), orange blossoms, cointreau and liqueur de poire. A richly enticing nose.
Palate: Sweet and rounded arrival with the pears from the nose recalled and floating on a sea of gristy cereal and malt. Some tannin appears in the development, but it is not overdone, and it is balanced by a mélange of citrus, dried tropical fruit and sweet herbal tea. The texture is full, mouth-coating and satisfying.
Finish: Medium/long. Some baking spices appear in the later palate and persist into the finish, accompanied by fresh and dried fruit flavours and a note of leathery honey. The citrus and tea flavors from the palate become a little over-emphasized in the aftertaste, leading to final sourness.
A very pleasing single malt – I’m glad I tasted this after the Arran Bordeaux Oak expression because this is clearly the superior dram. The nose on this is worth 5 stars and is mostly composed of light fruit and malt aromas but they are given depth and interest by the excellent supporting cask notes.
The palate is not far behind, well balanced at first and playing off those same light fruit notes against darker dried fruits, oak, malt and oak. However I find a fault in the late finish where it seemed to me to lose control and a sour, woody, citric note becomes overly apparent.
Tasted from a 15ml sampler.
“Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)
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500.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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@pkingmartin That’s quite likely, and I’ve seen similar things happen, particularly if the stopper is not making an air-tight seal.
@cascode Wow, that’s a tremendous price increase on any purchase!!! That’s good to know about bottles with a +50% abv to not need to worry much about any degradation until the last quarter. I think that poor bottle at my in-laws suffered due to them not running their AC much so the heat and humidity ended up ruining it.
@PBMichiganWolverine I thought you were going to slow down your acquisitions 😀 That’s a substantial collection and I’d wager it’s all premium stuff.
@DrRHCMadden I’ve found that +50% abv whiskies tend to do well over time, at least until they get down to the last quarter, so I don’t fret over bottles until they get to that point. Some distillates are more robust and like oxidisation. I don’t think Arran is one of those but I’ve never had one open long enough to find out.
@pkingmartin That’s a very good price and a solid recommendation for anyone in Europe or a country with low excise rates. Importing to Australia would make the final price about what Doc paid for it 🙁
@cascode and @DrRHCMadden I just stumbled on some at Must Have Malts for around € 180.00. https://www.musthavemalts.com/product/arran-15-years-old-rare-batch-french-oak-argonne/
@PBMichiganWolverine That's quite the effort and will certainly be helpful in finding those special gems that you wish to open in the future.I'd be happy to peruse your inventory list.
@DrRHCMadden That’s fully understandable, but be sure to treat yourself to a dram every now and then. I once had a bottle that was supposed to retail for around $700, but do to an employee’s mistake and my benefit; they priced it at $70 on their website. Knowing I’d likely never get a bottle of it again, I saved it for my wedding and poured it sparingly with friends to celebrate. I had around a half bottle left of that wondrous elixir that I left at my wife’s parents house in a hidden spot while I was off in another country, but due to some extreme temperature swings in their house by the time I returned to collect it, it had turned into a cloudy liquid that was no longer palatable. Since then, I’ve likely been too cautious with open bottles and finish them off faster than necessary, but can always look back at my notes to somewhat recreate my experience. Plus, my daughter keeps getting bigger and I’m now starting to have a growing sense of dread that some of my favorites will disappear into the depths of a coke or turning into a watered down mess to hide her transgressions.
@pkingmartin i’ll send you my inventory list just for kicks
@pkingmartin my bottle has had two 30 ml draws taken. I am eager to see how it has changed with that small amount of air in the bottle now. But, will be a while before I get the drive to open it again. With only 3000 bottles and at a price that is borderline between save/drink I don’t think I’ll see another one.
@PBMichiganWolverine what a fantastic five hours that must have been!
@pkingmartin my biggest issue is getting my lazy ass to the locker and going through close to 900 bottles. I actually made great progress over Christmas break. I went through every bottle, and made an inventory. Took me 5 hours.
@DrRHCMadden I too have regrets on how much I’ve spent on some bottles, but that’s all part of this spirits journey and thankfully this is a hell of a dram that is a special occasion in every pour that you can just sit back with and marvel at its depth and complexity that IMO could easily rival drams priced far higher. Cheers and hopefully another bottle will cross your path in the future.
@PBMichiganWolverine I think this would be well worth your time to go excavating through your Aladdin style cave of whisky wonders, as it’s a really unique with a mix of tropical fruits, light florals and unique wood spices. If you need assistance, just let me know the secret location and how to avoid those booby-traps you’ve been using to fend off all those flippers, as I’d really like to taste this wonderful whisky again.
@Ctrexman I’m with you, Arran makes fantastic whisky that can easily be found for reasonable prices and I’d throw in Ardnamurchan as another underrated distillery to keep an eye out for.
@DrRHCMadden @cascode I have a bottle of this buried somewhere —- you guys just convinced me to look for it
This sounds very difficult to obtain and is expensive as well. My takeaway is still Arran delivers almost always at different price points. They are just a solid strong underrated distillery imo. Especially here in the US not very popular but I havent had an Arran yet I wouldnt buy again
After auction and import fees I was out about $550
@DrRHCMadden Licquorland currently has (supposedly) 2 bottles available locally for $500. I'm tempted, but it's pretty steep. Thanks again for the sample - I would never have appreciated how fine a malt this is otherwise. Slainte!
That’s a big step up in score and I’m pleased to see how positively you’ve received this Sir! My regret? The cost. I paid way to much for this bottle, and I fear I’ll never see another one. Did I open this too soon! Haha, no. It’s lovely.