Whisky : Arran Peated 2008; Shinanoya Tokyo “Y’s Cask”

Country/Region : Scotland/Islands

ABV : 60.0%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon

Nose : Burst of citrusy lemon and orange zest along with unburnt charcoal bricks.  Scent of cleaning products along with citrus give the impression of Lysol or fresh laundry.  Grassy notes of burlap sack and grass stains on formerly clean laundry.  Mild cream and wispy smoke from a very distant cane fire come through slowly.

Palate : Charred citrus rinds overwhelm the sense before Oreo cream filling and grassy sweet pandan candies arrive.  Earthy salt builds along with tropical guava candies, pine nettles, and classic mineral-earth Arran malt notes.  Medium bodied, a couple drops of water brings out more herbal-grassy sweetness and pushes the salty notes into a crescendo.

Finish :  Medium length with some soot, pandan sugar, and salt.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Fresh Cane Juice & Lime 

Something Better : Amrut 8Y Ex-Jaggery Rum (similar tropical fruit/salt, more viscous/syrup)

Something Similar : Glenlivet Nadurra 16Y (similar citrus/guava/cream notes, less salt)

Something Worse : Arran 22 Year; Cadenhead (similar pandan/fruit, less defined profile, more apple)

Notes : A delightfully peated Arran— just a wisp of smoke, but loads of citrus and sea along with hints of earthy malt, cream, and tropical fruits.  The mild peat on this worked perfectly with the delicate fruit and floral notes of Arran’s malt.  It was a totally different story than the Machrie Moor Cask Strength Batch 2 that I reviewed a while ago.  That was my least favorite Arran of all time and it really soured me on the idea of peated Arran— something I had been really looking forward to trying.  This dram redeemed the whole idea of peated Arran, it was extremely easy to drink at cask strength and I did not find the addition of a few drops of water to really improve it.  Shinanoya always seems to get their hands on excellent cask selections and this time was no different.