Arran Quarter Cask - “The Bothy”
Official Bottling| 56.2% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good Stuff.
TL;DR
Powerful, bright, tropical magic from the folk doing it right
When Powerful Flavour Means More Than Age Statements
Arran 10 is a whisky I’ve used to convert whisky naysayers into ardent whisky supporters. It has a spicy, tropical side and simple approachability that makes it a potent whisky experience for both newbies and oldbies alike. The price – as low as £34.95 in the UK right now – coupled with the wide availability means there’s really no good reason not to try Lochranza Distillery’s youngest age-stated whisky. I’ve had a bit of experience now with Arran 10 and a few more of their core range whiskies, all of which traverse the monetary spectrum from £35 to just shy of £300, for their 25 year old. Their sherry forward 18 year old used to be £75, but in this age of rising commodities it’s now £90 if you can find it, which you can’t. Regardless, it’s a bit of a miss for me – there’s some complexity and interest, but certainly not resonant enough to ask £90 for. It’s like it has something to say but never does. The old style 18 year old however, with its more bourbon-forward approach, is absolutely brilliant and very similar in smell and taste to the 21 year old which, with its lovely blue card box and matching label, commands a whopping £120.
The closest companion to today’s whisky in question, is sort of a partner in crime and one that I again didn’t really hit off with: the cask strength Sherry Cask “Bodega”. It has similar pricing, similar ABV and both natural colour and non-chill filtered (like all of Arran’s range). I’ve been progressively working my way through the Bodega over the past seven or eight months, and each time I think I enjoy it, but am always left feeling a bit deflated. It just feels a bit singular in smell and taste. I’m starting to question if sherry casks are even my thing. It’s probably why this offering, the Quarter Cask “The Bothy”, delivered at 56.2% ABV and an accessible price of £45, is such a tantalising prospect. It requires a little bit more money to acquire than the Arran 10yo, but the elevation of ABV over the 10 should also elevate the smell and taste experience. The ability to tailor the whisky with water to an exact point that I want it to be means this potentially has more to offer by default. We’ll soon see.
“During the construction of Arran Distillery, work was halted for several weeks to allow the two Golden Eagles, which nest in the mountain behind the distillery to give birth to their chicks”
Review
Cask strength, 2019 bottling, 56.2% ABV
£45 and available in all good outlets - periodical droughts due to batch production nature
The bottle design of the Bothy meets expectations as set out by all other Arran offerings, so I won’t dwell too much on it other than to say that I like it. The whisky is light in colour compared to the 10yo, which would suggest a youthful spirit. There’s no age statement on the bottle and no further information available on the Arran website, but a bit of quick googling reveals the Quarter Cask is nine years of age. Seven years of maturation take place in ex-bourbon casks, with a further 2 years inside quarter casks – 125L diddybutts that accelerate the oak’s influence on the whisky, imparting more rapid flavour to the spirit. American oak, for those inquisitive souls.
“The Bothy” though. Why the bothy – is it a Ralfy reference? Is the distillery inside one? There’s a picture of a bothy on the tube (but not the bottle) and I know that there’s loads of wee white-washed stone houses on islands and in the highlands, but there’s literally nothing to explain why this whisky is referred to as “The Bothy”. Nothing on the website, nothing on Google, nothing on the bottle, box or leaflets. It’s just called “The Bothy”. It’s confusing. The Bodega is not as confusing, being that a sherry cask is used and where sherry or wine is typically stored is called a Bodega. Does that mean that the Quarter Cask is stored inside a bothy? If it is, why not say that? If you don’t have the tubes, which I never do because of my illuminated supershelf, the bottles only state in big bold typeset “QUARTER CASK” and “SHERRY CASK”, so I’m not sure why these auxiliary names are used, or inferred, only on the tube.
For a brand that is mopping up adulation from whisky authorities for their fabulous, simplified, to-the-point presentations and inclusive braille adorned labels, this nicknaming seems a bit weird. At least explain it somewhere easy to find, so uninformed people can understand it. I’ve had to work for an answer, looking into historical bottlings where I see there’s an older style presentation with a picture of a bothy on the bottle label, but it’s still not clear why.
Perhaps it’s a transitional phase of bringing the old style packaging over to the new style, for those that need a big arrow to say “This is the same stuff”, but the old style also had “quarter cask” written on it. All in all, it’s mystifying. If it doesn’t need to be there, adds no further positive experience and confuses punters, then remove it. It’s like saying Dougie Crystal “The Carrot Cake” – it has no point of reference, relevance or reason for being stated. Hmm, I could easily go a carrot cake right now, though, holey moley.
So a nine-year old, natural, supercharged whisky then, and my, what a delightful whisky it is.
Nose
Light espresso and a nice faint leather. Limes and light fruits. Chocolate toffees. The usual suspects are in abundance here – vanilla and honey, the fancy exotic stuff that costs double in Sainsbury’s. Scotch broom’s coconut-floral, bushy notes are around the periphery too – my favourite wild plant and in fabulous bloom right now, FYI.
Palate
Peaches, apricots and mango - lovely fresh exotic fruits burst through on arrival and swish around the facehole with abandon – a really uplifting experience. The higher ABV makes its presence known but never overwhelms enough to come across as “alcoholy”. A light leather lick and the dram settles down into the vanilla-toffee-honey stride nicely, with little zingers of citrus fruits; limes and the odd orange. A transitory herbal parting shot now and again – a coriander-like herb which brings to mind a bit of woodland walk – pine needles and deep intakes of breath.
The Dregs
It’s really good whisky! It falls comfortably within the Arran stable, offering the proprietary tropical goodness that Arran delivers with aplomb, but in the Quarter Cask it’s delivered at warp speed. Higher ABV is becoming the place to go with whisky now, for me, because it gives me the flexibility to tailor the experience to my heart's content – the chance to release suppressed flavours or dampen down others. It’s not the first time I’ve heard from brand representatives that the cask strength version of their whisky is their favourite, and it’s easy to see why. You’re getting the signature characteristics but at maximum volume. I also far prefer the Quarter Cask over the Sherry Cask sister dram, because it’s clear now that I prefer bourbon-based whiskies at the moment, but loads of folk hold the Sherry Cask up as their go-to sherried dram of choice.
Would I go for this over the 10 year old? Well for me, the Quarter Cask delivers a similar tropical fruit experience as the 10, but it’s amplified; brighter, fresher and more visceral. The 10 year old has a slightly bitter finish too which the Quarter Cask doesn’t, and I prefer the sweeter ending. The 10 is cheaper by £5-10, but I have to say that with the choice of Arran drams on my shelf – six in total now – the Quarter Cask is the most enticing prospect over them all.
As a value proposition in the UK – £45 but often found cheaper – it’s hard to argue; the higher ABV means loads more whisky flavour for the slight increase in asking price. The problem (and what a great problem) with having more expensive whiskies available on the supershelf, like the Arran 18 and 21, is that due to the expense, I only drink those when I’m feeling a bit special. Inevitably, due to the cost to obtain, the drinking experience is a lot more analytical because I want to know that the inflated asking price has been justified. I can’t (or rather won’t) drink the 21 “just because” or without spending my time scrutinising it – it just so happens to be gorgeous whisky so is ultimately worth that scrutiny. But is there an element of confirmation bias at play with whiskies that are more expensive? I can’t deny it. I need these rarities to deliver a better experience, otherwise I’ve been taken for a mug, and no-one wants to write that on tasting notes.
The Quarter Cask on the other hand is a perfect go-to dram for an enjoyable evening and is cost effective enough to remove any confirmation bias or not worry too much that it’s depleting rather promptly. I was given this bottle from a pal after he lost a bet, so I have even less financial bias towards it. I had presumed it was young whisky in the four-five year range presented at the higher ABV to deliver more flavour at the compromise of a missing age-statement. The Arran 10 might be the winner of accolades, but this Quarter Cask expression is, to all intents and purposes, a large step up from that great entry point, even if it was young. Now that I know it’s just shy of a decade and, knowing it delivers an elevated, potent flavour experience, that when my bottle of Arran 10 runs out, I’ll be replacing it with another Quarter Cask instead.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DC
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