Whisky : Arran 9 Year; La Maison du Whisky Cask Selection

Country/Region : Scotland/Islands

ABV : 57.3%

Cask : Sherry Hogshead

Age : 9 Years (10/15/20008—6/6/2018)

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ LMDW Singapore

Nose : Strawberry cream and cocoa powder.  Reminds me strongly of ‘Tokyo Banana,’ a little Japanese cream filled sponge cake.  It is hard to miss the astringent twang and the faint burning propane of a camping stove.  My wife added that she picked up perfume ‘water notes,’ and that this was the first time she thought she knew what that even meant.

Palate : Gushing tart fruits; grapefruit, cherries, and blackberries.  Hiding behind the fruit are the herbal notes of lemongrass tea, pine cones, and dried pine needles.  There is just a bit of hot rubber that shows up every once in a while in the otherwise viscously fruity liquid.

Finish : Long and astringent herbal fruits notes.

Score : 7

Mental Image : A tart tarte.  Grapefruit juice, sour cherries, tart blackberries baked into an herb seasoned crust.  Needs a scoop of ice cream.

Something Better : Arran 18 (less sherry, more balanced fruit & sweet)

Something Similar : Amrut Intermediate Sherry (sweeter, more peppery, similar big ripe fruit & intensity)

Something Worse : Glendronach 12 (more spice, less intensity, less sour fruit)

Notes : A sherry slap in the face, this young Arran is unbalanced and intense.  It was a joy to sip on with its big bold sour fruits, even adding water did little to reduce the punchy attitude of the dram.  La Maison du Whisky always has very good to excellent cask picks, so when I spotted this one behind the bar in Singapore, I knew I had to add it to my whisky flight.  Arran has consistently been one of my favorite distilleries.  Few of their drams have ever blown me totally out of the water, but they have consistently received higher than average marks from me.  This Arran cask was no different.

The intensity of the dram is probably the reason why I could never see myself really wanting a bottle of it.  Its brashness is a joy to work through, but I can not picture myself reaching for a bottle of this to pour at home.  It was a great ingredient in a flight, but not a sipper, which mirrors my feelings towards Amrut Intermediate Sherry (my ‘something similar’) which languishes in the back of the whisky cabinet despite being a great bottle.  When it comes to Arran I think my preference is for older more mature casks, though I will continue to sample everything I can.  It would be a delight really to compare this 9 Year Sherry with a 13-15, 17-19, and 20+ to get a feel for the maturing process.