Arran ✔ Cask strength ✔ Sherry Cask ✔ Peated ✔ Small Batch ✔ Age statement ✘ Except for it being an NAS what is not to like about this special Arran bottle? It all started with a random Instagram post that Arran distillery shared of some random whisky aficionado from Belgium enjoying a dram of this bottling. After seeing that bottle I immediately knew that I need to have it. And after texting this person it turned out he actually owns quite a big whisky store and that he is also Arran ambassador. Since they didn’t have an online store, we managed to do the transaction via mail and just a few days later the special delivery from Belgium arrived. Arran is one of my top 3 distilleries and I already enjoyed their only retail peated bottling Machrie Moor, which was only bourbon cask matured. But Arran does Sherry finishing superbly and that made this bottle a no-brainer for me. Nose: the peat is really present, but right next to it an incredible soft fruit mix with loads of vanilla and buttery marzipan, also an interesting maritime note which I usually don’t get from Arran whiskys, the high ABV is completely absent (using a Norlan glass), in the back of the nose is a vibrant fresh lemon / orange sensation, then some dark raspberries, although it has a sweet fudgy character the peat and wood mix also gives it a strong organic “maturity” which compensates graciously for it being an NAS. Palate: delicious peat amongst fruit cake that is covered with honey and roasted chili flakes, some waxy notes, the alcohol is present at first but not very intense feeling, later it becomes pure butter in the mouth with the woody peat covering the back palate. On later sips the ABV gets more challenging but still very much in the enjoyable range. Finish: like the cold pan of a honey coated roast with herbs in a smoker from the previous day It feels like the smokey peat is not inside of the whisky, but somehow surrounds it very nicely. The whisky starts of sweet then gets hot like caramelized smoked chili, almost salty and wooden and then finishes off citric sweet again with some mild herbs and spices, dark wood aromas and cold peat smoke. Water really doesn’t do anything good to it. It somehow even felt hotter after adding water and it lost sweetness as well. This really felt best undiluted. In conclusion - this is a fantastic whisky. It honestly reminds me of the Loch Gorm from Kilchoman but has a much more fruity sweet very Arran-like nose with less peat. Of course it doesn’t have Islay peat levels but the complexity and intense flavor mix integrated very nicely in the enveloping peat aromas are really well done. The enjoyment and experience is on par with my favorite Islay whisky Loch Gorm. Another whisky I wish I could share. I am really blown away by how nice Arran can utilize peated whisky.