Arran 15 Year Rare Batch French Oak – Argonne

Review by: The Muskox

I haven’t had an Arran in ages – time to rectify that. This one has been fully matured in French oak casks from the Argonne forest in northeastern France. Arran says that these casks were previously used to mature still wines at a winery near Ay, which Google tells me is in Champagne.

Distillery: Lochranza

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Islands (Isle of Arran)

ABV: 53.5%. Cask Strength.

Age: 15 years. Bottled in 2022.

Cask type: French oak wine casks from the Argonne forest.

Price: £135 MSRP

Color: Copper, with a hint of pink. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

Nose: Fruity and fragrant. Lots of ripe stonefruit – peaches, plums, and cherries, as well as the stoneful-but-not-stonefruit mango. Slight bubblegum and orange soda. Hints of oak and licorice. Some porpourri floral character and spicy cedar. Slightly malty and yeasty, too – Montreal-style bagels?

Palate: Creamy texture, very little heat despite the proof. Arrives with peach nectar, grapefruit, ginger, sourdough, and pears. The fruit gets more tropical on the development, along with shortbread, vanilla, and moderate oak. Lots of mango and plums. A hint of green stemminess.

Finish: Medium-length. Crisp fruit – pomegranate, orange peel, mango, pear, and Fuzzy Peaches. It starts sweet but starts to be balanced out by bitter notes of Campari, grapefruit peel, and oak. Lingering grapefruit.

Possible SMWS bottling name: “Desk drawer full of sorbet”

Conclusion: Very tasty! It took a little while for some stemminess and overly floral character to fade to the background, but once it did, I started really enjoying this. Beautiful creaminess and juicy fruit, and I love how those more bitter grapefruit notes come in on the finish. It’s very winey, but retains those characteristic Arran tropical fruit, citrus, and ginger notes that I love. I might not recommend this for Arran’s RRP of 135 quid, but it’s certainly a successful bottling.

Final Score: 86.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

Leave a comment