Arran The Exciseman / Smugglers Series Vol. III

The third and final bottling in the Smugglers' Series - The Exciseman – again contains peated and unpeated Arran malt, of which part matured on Madeira casks. Quite a few of the 8700 bottles were never opened. Looking at auction sites, many complete sets are on offer, fetching 750 to even 900 EUR for the three. That’s a lot of money, and frankly quite expensive for 3 NAS-releases. Admittedly the stuff is not bad, but collectors have little use for that, I think. Anyway, the marketing department at Arran has outdone itself once again.

Well, that that is a good nose! Dark and sweet on raisins, baked apples with cinnamon, Turkish Delight and chocolate, dark honey and vanilla. A hint of peat and sea salt gives it a maritime quality, but the fruit and spices dominate here. Lots of toasted oak that delivers ginger and pepper.

This one has a good body and can even be called creamy, but piquant as well. Pepper of all sorts, liquorice and ginger. The fruit is limited to apples and lime. That last one quite powerful, in fact. Candied orange peel kicks in and push away the baked apples. Quite intense, in fact. Vanilla and barley sugars keep it sufficiently sweet. A touch of smoke gives it depth. Nice, very nice.

The finish is very long, spicy and warm. Apples and limes, wrapped in a smoky jacket, linger while your mouth slowly dries.

Without a doubt the best of the three, but you will have to fork over 350 to 400 EUR for a bottle today. Ah, bottle flippers have the power!

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