Arran is one of my favorite distilleries. Most of the different expressions I had were really awesome. I also really am digging the new design and the direction Arran is heading to with their own variations and experiments as well as with their sister distillery “Lagg” that is only producing peated whisky. (The Machrie Moor already was a really nice peated bottle.) So after I had the 12y I immediately got a bottle of the 18y and 21y each, which are more different that I was expecting. It has the very likable nose of Arran with a great fruitiness that is based in the sherry finish. There is dominantly dried apricots, some raisins but also a nice earthiness like wet clay. Then cranberries, black currant, banana peel, light vanilla. It also has some green tea qualities. And to top it all off: a great spice mix, which I realized is what generally makes a whisky great for me - a balance of sweetness and deep spices. When it hits the palate you immediately get nice oak soaked in dark red fruits / sherry. You can’t really tell if it is sweet or sour or even slightly bitter. It is right in the middle of these tastes and that balance makes me really like this whisky. There is dark berries conveyed in a woody syrupy texture, candied nuts (“gebrannte Mandeln” that are very popular in Germany) and then only in the end a spicy heat like cooked chilis. Later the nose become very chocolaty. But in the end it all finishes in a long and ongoing spicy fruitiness with great sherry oak. Man, what a good whisky and noticeably different to the 21y. This is a whisky you don’t wanna miss. It has many sides and a lot to discover. It also develops very nicely over the course of a dram, where it starts of fruity and sherry sweet with nice spices and near the bottom of the glas it becomes more deep, smooth and rich and loses a lot of the sweetness and becomes much more spicy almost savory. I also got this bottle on sale for only 70$ but I would pay more than this without any hesitation.