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Arran Original

Average score from 2 reviews and 2 ratings 79

Arran Original

Product details

  • Brand: Arran
  • Bottler: Distillery Bottling
  • ABV: 43.0%

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@vanPelt
Arran Original

I'm writing a follow-up/revision to my earlier review, because I have such a different experience on later tasting after purchasing my own bottle. It is now clear that the day's warmer temperature had been responsible for bringing out the more savory notes in the earlier tasting. I now understand the difference of just a few degrees-- live and learn! Back at "normal" cooler temperatures, the whisky has quite different character-- very mellow and light, and less savory. Since I am unable to edit my earlier entry, I am writing an update in a new entry.

Nose: Vanilla; behind it, a little rosewater and strawberry. Deeper breaths give some custard and let me know some toffee is coming.

Palate: Vanilla and honey; toffee. Thinner (less creamy in consistency) than others I've had.

Finish: Continuation of the palate flavors; egg nog spices of nutmeg. Medium length finish, maybe half a minute

Obviously this is very different from my first assessment. At cooler temperatures this reminds of hard egg nog without the creamy consistency. Refreshing and balanced for those evenings when I might not want something very deep but just very enjoyable. I am still happy with the purchase, and actually I have no change to the score.

Okay cool. I haven't controlled mine identically either (very hard to do) however I do try to maintain a fill level (in whatever container size) of 2/3 to 4/5. Usually sampling from a 250ml bottle though which by about the 6 month mark is down to about 2/3 or 1/5 so that's pretty much the limit of my reviews. I try not to open the bottle in between reviews to limit fresh air exposure / vapour exchange.

As people drink at different rates, it's hard to say what a reasonable fill level would or should be after 6 or 12 months. But to at least given an indication, I provide the fill level at each review point and the length of time at that fill level.

And going further on a tangent now - hopefully from all that, some kind of "formula" might be derived to describe the total "oxidation" factor at any given time point. At least that's something I'm working on, but so far I'm finding it's hard to come up with a measure that is easy to interpret e.g. should it be whisky/air ratio over time? or air/whisky ratio over time? How about summarising to one number expressed as "oxidative weeks"? Yeah. Probably over-thinking it but thought I'd share anyway.

My various re-reviewed malts have not been identically controlled (except for all being stored in a cool basement, and with air atmosphere-- no vacuum or argon etc.). In some cases, I saved samples in small vials; but in this particular case of the Arran Original, it was a bottle, and about 1/2 full.

I would be concerned if the remaining spirit was a very low fraction of the container size (because ethanol could evaporate), or if the air fraction was very low (because oxidation would be limited). But I can at least say they were all 25%-75%; So I think they reasonably indicate how ("in which direction") you might expect the malt to evolve... even if the rates have been different.

@vanPelt

I'm not sure why this one is not listed on Connosr. I think I understood, at the whisky tasting I attended, that number of bottles was limited. However, from an internet search for "Arran Original", it seems readily ordered from online companies.

This was a very enjoyable malt, and I would certainly buy it at the right price. The light color and light peating made me skeptical about how flavorful it would be-- How deceiving! I found this to be a deep and complex malt.

Nose: After pouring, very complex and pungent like bleu cheese. Afterwards, still salty and buttery in smell, with rounded depth like mushroom soup or spinach gratin. Definitely savory, maybe very lightly peated. Adding water brought out a smell I could only label "potpourri".

Taste: Soft entry, very easy, with some olive juice as well as many of the same flavors as in the nose (above).

Finish: A pleasant savory, musky aftertaste. My wife concurred but believes there is a creme brulee aftertaste, like a dessert after the salty meal.

I found this to be a solid, savory, complex malt, unlike any that I have tasted previously (at this point only 40). Deserving of the high score: It was definitely the best of the 8 samples in the tasting. No other Arrans were there, so I wonder whether this is a brand for further explorations....

It is worth adding here, that I purchased a bottle after this tasting-- and I was never able to re-create this savory experience. I cannot explain it, although the malt may have been served quite warm the first time. Please see my other review for this malt, which is much more accurate.

After having now had a similar experience, I am suspecting that this review had been based on a bottle that was sadly subject to cork rot. Bleu cheese? Mushrooms? I don't think it was just the warm weather that day.... Again, please refer to my other review of this scotch.

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