Whisky: Arran 6 Year (2012) for Royal Mile Whiskies

Country/Region: Scotland/Islands

ABV: 54.2%

Cask: Sherry Hogsheads

Age: 6 Years (Distilled 2012, Bottled 2019)

Nose: Dried fruits and hints of leather, burning candle wick and wispy smoke, rum baba cake, hints of vanilla and coconut, smoldering palm fronds.

Palate: Medium-bodied, a touch syrupy at times, dried figs and dates, hints of fresh dark roasted coffee and charred wood, toasted brown sugar, mellow tobacco and leather, cracked peppercorn, a kiss of salt and dried flowers.

Finish: Medium-length with dried fruits and rich herbs.

Score: 6-7

Mental Image: Christmas Cake for the Beach Bonfire

Narrative & Notes: Overall, a lovely affair. I initially tried this blind and guessed it was youngish, heavily sherried malt from Glengoyne (some of the coffee notes brought to mind my favorite teapot editions); however, reviewing the list of possibilities my friend shared, I thought it might be the Aberlour A’bunadh. The malt did not strike me as particularly Aberlour-ish; there was no grassy or herbal character, but I know those are sherried releases, and this was quite sherried.

It turned out this was a 6-year peated Arran for Royal Mile Spirits. It was at least sherried, so I got that right, and I suppose if I had taken the time to check the casking of the spirits on the list, I might have figured this out. The fact that this was a peated spirit from Lochranza certainly explains why I got so much coffee and wood char. I have had a few unpeated sherry monsters that pulled off similar flavors, but the fact that this was peated makes much more sense. Ironically, I first tried this shortly after finishing up my notes on a 25-Year Arran.

A solid sherry-driven experience with fairly straightforward notes that never veered too sharply into lacquered wood, funky leather, or candied sugars. To that end, the whisky was fairly well-balanced and, therefore, easy to drink— I suspect this would make for a lovely sipper and the sort of whisky you could pair fairly easily with food.

I have had mixed experiences with the peated Arran spirit from Lochranza— a few were terrific, and a few were some of my least favorite Arran of all time. So I chucked this one up as a win and found it growing on me each time I returned to it. I am looking forward to trying some of the malts now being bottled at the sibling distillery down in Lagg. I think this will be a fun whisky to try against what comes out of there.

Image Credit: Scotch&Sheen (check out his review through the link)