Whisky : Arran 23 Year; PM Spirits

Country/Region : Scotland/Islands*

ABV : 46.8%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon (18Y), Ex-Cognac (6Y)

Age : 24 Years* (Distilled 1996, Bottled July 2020)

Nose : Fruity with a subtle herbal edge.  Fresh pressed apple cider, tangerines, and persimmons led the way followed by cherry syrup and lemon-lime soda.  Subtle notes of patchouli, cheesecake, herbal horehound candies, and minerally talcum powder hid in the background.

Palate : Medium to lighter body with citrus and floral notes.  Began with dried lemon peel, lychee candies, rambutans, and black sugar.  Subtly malty raisin and snickerdoodle cookies with fragrant herbal-woody notes of patchouli and sandalwood came out with more time.

Finish :  Lingering dry spice and fruit

Score : 7

Mental Image : Swimming Pool Summer Nights

Notes : This particular whisky needed a lot of asterisks on it.  First off, it was not technically scotch as it spent eight years (2012-2020) in a French cognac cellar.  Once a whisky leaves Scotland without being bottled, even if it comes back, it can no longer legally be labeled scotch whisky (though there are a few exceptions, such as bulk blended product being bottled overseas and ongoing discussions over repealing the rule to cut down on freight emissions).  The second asterisk was needed for the age of the malt whisky.  While the age stated on the bottle was 23 Years, and I have included that in my title in case anyone is ever searching for it, this was not actually bottled in 2019 as originally planned when the labels were made.  It ultimately spent another year aging in the cognac cellar due to the delay.  I supposed another asterisk could be added here since it was not so much a cellar as a shed.

This was the oldest Arran I have had a chance to try and I loved the mellow fruity profile.  The cognac influence was light and there were still plenty of the delicious mineral earthy-malt notes I love in an Arran.  The wife did not care for this at all and thought there was too much apple on the nose and sugars on the palate.

Overall, this was quite tasty with some nice exotic fruits.  This would be a perfect whisky to sit with at the end of a long day and just melt in the couch a bit.