Review by: Raygun

I am a big fan of Arran, especially in the right kind of sherry cask. Not as familiar with wine matured Arran, except for the Amarone which I tried years back. This particular one is (or was) available as a handfill at the distillery. Chateau d’Issan is a producer of Bordeaux in Margaux growing Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes. French oak, I presume. Initially tasted blind, with additional notes after the reveal in italics. Thanks to zSolaris for the sample. Rested about 15 minutes.

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Distillery: Arran

Bottler: Arran     

Region/style: Islands single malt Scotch

ABV: 58% 

Age: Not stated, but apparently around 10 years  

Cask type: d’Issan Margaux red wine cask   

Color: 1.6 mahogany. Natural color and chill-filtered.

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Nose: Lots of berries. Strawberries and cherries, with some cream. Can’t be sherry, I don’t think, but maybe port? Or red wine. Get the foresty aspect here too. Cherry pie. 

Palate: No peat here either. On the sweet side, with an appealing berry zing. Fruit candies and cherry soda. A little touch of forest. Not a lot of variety to the flavors, but what’s there is nice. A hint of chocolate, but mainly berries.

Finish: Sweet here, too, without a lot of oak. Strawberries, cherries, and a hint of clove. Wine tannins are evident. 

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Guess: Think it’s a red wine maturation, 10-12 years at most and around 50%. Wonder if it could be Australian? That or a wine matured Scotch. 

Post-reveal thoughts: Pretty darn good. Didn’t have any good guesses on the distillery, but it showed very little Arran character. Very dominated by the cask. Was under on the ABV but pretty much nailed the age and cask type. I’ll call that a win.   

Conclusion: Almost drank like (extremely) fortified wine. The wine cask flavor took over. Unpeated red wine maturation doesn’t always work very well in my opinion. This had some appealing red fruit flavors, cherry in particular. Can’t help thinking this was a Merlot-heavy wine. The price is that it’s not very Scotch-y, and I certainly can’t tell that it’s Arran. Although it’s well executed, this sort of cask-dominated profile isn’t what I look for these days.

Score: 78

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky. (Convalmore 36)
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1)
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Ledaig 13 Amontillado)
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Tomatin 18)
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Glen Scotia 15)
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Aultmore 12)
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Glenmorangie 10)
• 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Old Pulteney 12)
• 0-49: Blech. (Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16)