Here’s a sample pour I received from a former SDT colleague, @Telex from Maryland. The Arran 16 year was a widely released malt with a bottle count of almost 9,000. It’s bottled at 46% ABV and is yellow gold in color with watery, medium-sized drops and tons of legs in the tasting glass. This is what I’ll call “A Tale of Two Drams”, let me explain: Initially, the nose was ex-bourbon to the extreme: heavy, fresh cut oak with ginger undertones and abrasive alcohol astringency. Given a lengthy, airy rest I was able to coax some apples, pears, citrusy lime out of it, with some faint sherry notes rounding things out. Sadly, just as soon as I thought it was revealing itself I got more oak cask and ginger- those notes never fully faded away. The palate acted similarly: it contradicted itself back and forth with cinnamon and oak barrel power, yielding to subtle orchard fruit and vanilla sweetness, only to switch back to a biting citrus and ginger sting. The mouthfeel never turned soothing or relaxed. I even added a few drops of water to try and calm it on the last little bit to no avail. Spicy pepper and apple slices seemed to be the overall theme. The finish was hot and dry with pepper and woody notes. I did detect a little more of the sherry influence as it lingered, but the heat and sherry only reminded me of a cheap brandy and that didn’t leave me wanting to score this all that high. Overall, I can’t decide how much I want to punish this pour for being so mixed up. Just when I wanted it to turn the page and become a soothing, fruity dram it socked me back in the mouth with heat and pepper. I don’t know if it needs more time in the cask, more sherry cask juice blended in, or just abandon the sherry and focus on a cask strength, ex-bourbon profile. I get the impression that any one of those options would’ve resulted in a better dram. This one is kind of a mess as presented. 2.5 stars, maybe 2.75. Thanks for the pour, Jason, but I’d have to pass on buying a bottle at this point. Cheers.