Palate: Loads of juicy sherry influence, with chocolate-dipped cherries, raisins and a touch of caramel. I only tried my first Arran last month, it was the 18 and was superb! It is my favourite Sherry casked whisky so far to date. However, when current Managing Director Euan Mitchell came over from Springbank, where he served as its Sales Director, he pushed the company to create a core range of aged-stated releases. Mitchell felt that this move would result in the creation of a constant and recognizable identity that consumers can expect from Arran whisky, an identity that cannot be achieved by their initial preference for experimental finishing. The sherry version has a similar age ( 7 years old) but it comes from first-fill sherry hogsheads and it is bottled at cask strength.

Arran Sherry Cask | WhiskyNotes review Arran Sherry Cask | WhiskyNotes review

They said the old design had served its purpose, so they wanted to reimagine the bottling design to make it modern and more effective in communicating their brand values, like the importance they place on the soft water they use at the distillery – on the new design, this is shown by the “ripples” on the bottle’s shoulder. The Arran “The Bodega” Sherry Cask single malt whisky is what I’ll be reviewing today. Despite not having a stated age on its label, Arran openly communicates that it contains 7-year-old single malt. I reached out to Andy Bell, and he confirmed that The Bodega is exclusively matured in first-fill Oloroso-sherry-seasoned American oak hogsheads, which was selected over European oak to better complement the house style of Arran whisky. It is presented naturally: without added color, without chill-filtration, and at cask strength (55.8% ABV for this batch). It also didn’t help Arran’s case that they intended to sell single malt rather than make the wiser and more practical decision of bottling blends, or selling their whisky for use in blends. After all, other than a few distilleries that sold single malts like Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, and those that were part of Diageo’s classic malts, blends were largely the way by which many distilleries survived during that time. Yet another contradiction in Arran’s history. Nose: rich sherry, perfectly clean. Fresh figs and cherry liqueur, some orange peel and cinnamon. Also pepper and hints of hay. Minty notes and crystallized ginger. Subtle vanilla and floral notes too, in fact it’s rather light and youthful, not as heavyweight as some others. Excerpt: Clean, bright orchard fruit blends in nicely with strawberry rhubarb pie, light toffee, dates, dark chocolate, and polished oak. Long, soothing, oily finish. Another solid effort from this young distillery.

I already mentioned the Arran Sherry Cask while reviewing its bourbon counterpart called Arran Barrel Reserve. It is part of duo that has no age statement and no fancy finish either – it is meant to express the cask influence of bourbon and sherry. This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services. Aged exclusively in sherry hogsheads, this new expression in Arran's portfolio after their recent redesign. Bottled at cask strength without coloring or filtering, this should be an interesting one to try. Let's dive in. Each and every Member must be of legal drinking age in its country of residence to be allowed to use the Service. If no such law exists in a Member’s country of residence, the Member has to be over 21 years old to use the Service. We have the right to ask you to provide proof of your age and/or to provide further identification to prevent underage usage and/or for any other legal or legitimate purpose. By using the Service, and by creating an account you represent, warrant and confirm that you are of legal age.

Arran Bodega Sherry Cask - House of Malt Arran Bodega Sherry Cask - House of Malt

Our Service is an online platform which provides Members with information (e.g. bottle facts, market-indices, market values and prices) on (mostly) whisky and allows Members to add information to the platform. We do not sell, nor does the Service provide any option to buy, any alcoholic products. When I first heard about Arran whisky and tried learning about the brand, I was intrigued by the different contradictions that stood out throughout the course of their history. Arran Bottler Distillery Bottling Bottling serie Cask Finishes Bottled 2016 Casktype Traditional Oak & Oloroso Sherry Casks Finish Strength 46.0 % Vol. Size 700 ml Bottle code L 21 01 16 3 08:18 BB Barcode 5060044482984 Added on 21 nov 2016 7:02 am by Seheiah Medium mouth feel. Nice jammy component. Pepper, toffee, some fresh baked cake. A bit of heat, but nothing punishing. Really balanced between fruity and jammy and bread-y and pepper-y. I like it. All palates are subjective, so your opinion is certainly valid! However, it’s true in many instances that more time in the cask does better integrate Sherry influence and the distillery character, especially if you compare that to younger Sherry-cask whiskies that are done disingenuously.Thank you for your kind words and for taking the time to comment, Andy. The 18yo does seem to be promising to many people, which gives me more reason to grab myself a bottle once it becomes available. Smell: Wonderfully rich aroma of raisins, sultanas, currants, prunes and figs. Also berries, walnut and leather. Barbecue and tobacco leaves. Even a wee touch of coffee. Not bad for it's price but defenetely too young and not well balancied. Defenetely overrated for me. If you consider this one as an entry into sherry cask world it is not the best choise - you will get the wrong impression. The current core range is a manifestation of the success of that endeavor. As if to put an exclamation mark on their commitment to the creation of that identity, the new core range was extended by the addition of The Bodega, a whisky that also used wine casks but through exclusive maturation, not finishing. Yes, they still continue to release finished whiskies, but it says a lot that they would consider a single malt exclusively matured in a wine cask (and, of course, it had to be Sherry) to be a fixture that they believe consumers can rely on.

Arran - Whiskybase - Ratings and reviews for whisky Arran - Whiskybase - Ratings and reviews for whisky

Mouth: more depth, still nicely sherried, but now more on the greenish side. Ginger, pepper and clove. Oranges, raisins and red berries underneath. Then some dark chocolate and treacle, as well as hints of tobacco. I’ve formed an opinion rightly or wrongly that older Sherry casked whiskies just have more about them, they just seem to be more cohesive and balanced, although it may have just been the the mood I was in and it absolutely hit the spot! If we decide not to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms, such decision shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.Nose... Initially a very brief but extremely nicely flavoured slight sherry, Christmas cake note but immediately followed by overwhelming smell of pure alcohol or vodka. We may sell, license, transfer, assign or in any other way dispose of the Service (including Members) to any third party without any notification to you, e.g. (but without limitation) in connection with any reorganization, restructuring, merger or sale, or other transfer of assets. Fast forward, and Arran decides to undertake a rebranding of their core range. According to Andy Bell, Arran’s Head of Sales and Strategy for Europe and the Nordic Isle, there were several factors that led to that rebranding. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.