Arran Single Cask Nation 12 yo Pinot Cask

Time for the third tasting notes from the first batch of Single Cask nation, after a very nice start with the Kilchoman and the BenRiach which left me wanting more. The Isle of Arran distillery is shaping up to be one of the better new distilleries, and although i think their malt profile shines out when aged in Bourbon casks, it would be very interesting tasting a single cask finsihed (or partly aged) in a wine cask.

This cask bottling, distilled in September 1999, spent eight years aging in first fill ex-bourbon before maturing for an additional four years in ex-pinot noir. It was bottled in June of this year at 54.8% ABV. Cask #6 yielded 277 bottles. Let’s dram!

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Nose: Very fragrant and quite funky. Not very winey, but Fruity with exotic fruit and some sweet treacle.

Palate: Zingy and spicy. Ginger. Fruit. Sweet sugars. Quite some sweet dried fruit. Raisins. Prunes and some nice apple aroma.

Finish: Drying with dried fruit jam. And spice (pepper, nutmeg).

A very nice dram, not over wine-y , and quite interesting. I still prefer the “naked” arrans but this one is far better than the OB arran wine finishes, by far.

Again, solid stuff, and though this is not my favourite among the 3 bottling, it does have its charm. I can’t wait for some more releases which will surely come in the future. A very good start to this new Indie label. You did well Josh, Set and Jason. well done.

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