Arran 1998 Sherry Cask

FOREWARD

I actually went quite out of my way to obtain this bottle. It was the only one left in Oregon. For some reason, I felt compelled to own it. I called a far away Ichor store up by Mt. Hood in the Cascade Mountains where the Oregon Ichor Search listed the last bottle as residing.

Thankfully, the store still had it in stock. I then called an Ichor store near me in Portland to arrange to have the bottle brought back from the Mt. Hood location. The chap who worked the front counter happened to leave near me in Portland, and he simply brought it with him and left it at the Ichor store near me. What a good fellow!

THE REVIEW

After sitting in a glass for 5-10 minutes:

Nose: butter brickle, sweet cream, wet rusty iron, hint of sherry

Initial taste: dates, pecans, mellow heat, decadent sherry, vanilla bean

High (mid) note: raison bread, figs

Finish: neither long nor short; lingering heat and typical highland single malt fervor, toffee, caramel, ice cream cone sugary shell

Health side effects: Creates mild heart burn and hot burps when compared with other highland single malts that do not affect me this way at all. Perhaps it is the relatively high 56.2% alcohol per volume that is primarily responsible.

Potential Blend: This whisky mixes quite well with Caol Ila 12 if Talisker is not on hand to mix with Caol Ila. In many ways, an Arran Sherry/Caol Ila blend is more unusual than Talisker, but not necessarily less satisfying. The unpredictability can be quite nice, especially on the finish. I suggest mixing half and half of this and Caol Ila, sealing the two in a small air tight bottle with very little to no air inside, and then drinking it a few hours later. The sherry finish with the Caol Ila can be quite good.