Official Bottling | 46% ABV

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*Lovely, objectively. Even if I did yearn for something different*

Hot Takes.

Take any topic you like. Ask anyone with any modicum of knowledge on it for their thoughts. You’re guaranteed to get them.

We love to bark our ‘informed’ takes on anything that gets the juices going; wisdom, genuine insight or factual accuracy be damned.

We’ve always had our own personal opinions, and that’s fine. It’s good to take an invested interest in things. But today, technology allows us to amplify our barking to the point it is no longer personal. Living online today, everyone can claim a spot to air their voice. An audience, however, remains a little more difficult to find. Still, it won’t prevent everyone from sharing their self-perceived, piercing, incisive thoughts into everything from politics to pottery. Especially if it’s a ‘hot take’.

I have a passing interest in football and, no doubt heightened by Scotland’s miraculous group-topping qualification for this year's FIFA World Cup, it’s one of the few things that my ever-evolving teenage son and I can bond over these days. We can debate football in any direction and it remains fun while we exchange personal opinions. Although I quickly learn that he knows more than me, and is armed with almost all of the facts.

This, subconsciously at first, has driven me to listen to podcasts and sports channels whilst in the car. Only today, I listened to a podcast where the hosts went through and, sometimes brutally, rated the performances of an entire squad of a team, post-season. Everything from ‘outstanding’ to ‘dud’. While they reasoned and justified their placements, I found myself agitated and keen to disagree at many points raised. Sometimes I was incredulous at their distant, one-sided and callous critique of athletes who have - probably - been trying really hard.

But isn’t that the point?

It’s all about discussion and debate, it’s about making valid arguments and presenting them faithfully, it’s about making good points and earnestly getting them across. If it’s done well, there’s a place for interaction; some riposte and retort, a way to see more than one perspective. Happily, these are also provided by the same technologies that build these digital megaphones in the first place: comments sections, reply threads and phone-ins.

If we take the time to digest the content and then spend a little time reading the reactions and counter-points, we can often get closer to a wider understanding of things. I say that, but of course we’re going to be completely human about all of these things and only take in that which reaffirms our own personal biases, it’s such a satisfying feeling, after all; being ‘right’.

It’s no surprise that these interactions drive engagement and help build that ever-so-valuable audience - the more controversial the better. We want hot topics, we want surprises, we want stories, we want new and we want drama. Regardless of the context, in our digital lives, there’s nothing quite like a hot take.

For the review of the bottle today, this is in my mind. Not because my take is particularly ‘hot’, but because I do harbour a concern (with a very small ‘c’) that it might be viewed as such. It’s not intended to be. First and foremost, I want to be honest and my opinions today are borne from that. You see, I’m not sure I’m a fan of most of the modern Arran spirit.

I’ve bought and enjoyed many excellent bottles of Arran’s malt over the years, some of them I’ve loved, one of which I’d like to share before I finish waffling today - it’s still available. But there’s something missing which does puzzle me at times; I struggle to identify character in most of the Arran releases these days. None of them are bad, in fact I’d go so far as to suggest they’re all very good, it’s just that I’m not sure many have shown the ability to be standouts.

Of course, this makes me a little nervous of the reaction in the comments because, as we all know, Arran - specifically Lochranza - is a doyen of the modern whisky botherer.

As a distillery, it ranks as position #6 in the Dramface Top 40 and it has been as high as #5 in the past - this is from the choice of over 150 distilleries, so that’s not nothing. Their official releases are often very highly received too. A personal highlight for me was the re-release of the 18 year old in 2019, for me it was an excellent take on sherry-matured whisky and at £90 good value at the time too. Although that did increase with subsequent releases.

Their 10 year old official release is the world’s most potent crowd-pleaser and seemingly unassailable when it comes to a blend of availability, affordability and quality; according to four separate OSWA wins, plus a Trifecta Award, since 2021. It seems with their flagship they’ve unlocked a perfect recipe.

But after that everything goes a little… kaleidoscope-like, especially for modern Arran releases. It heads quickly to stories of cask-playfulness and special releases and I’m often left wondering what the Arran spirit actually tastes like. There is something in there, for sure. For me it’s always been marked by a sweet citrus, almost syrupy quality that’s reminiscent of orange cordial (think Kia-Ora for those in the UK). It’s just that I wish we could access this a little easier; a little more precision and sharpness of spirit and less of the reliance on big, oppressive sweet-or-spicy wood-derived flavours.

Maybe there’s nostalgia involved here. Because there was a time when we were able to witness the evolution of Arran’s Lochranza spirit by the bottle.

The story goes that, once-upon-a-time, they had very little money and even less of a wood policy, basically filling whatever they could get their hands on. Times were often tough in the earlier years and financial failure was a constant spectre. This led to inevitable batch variation but, seen as worse, spotty quality and sometimes a youthful edge to their releases where they drank younger than the age on the label. However, the 2000s morphed into the 2010s and, after some time, as these things tend to go, this proved to be something quite positive.

It was first apparent in the 14 year old and soon after the same branding of their 10 year old also. Despite relatively poor scores on places like Whiskybase, I became fascinated with these. There was a quiet poise to them, a complexity and a delicate balance that was never too sweet, too sharp or too acidic and yet all of those things too. Not being sure of what the cask make up actually was, let’s instead just suggest that they tasted ‘refill-like’ in nature, they brought a complexity that made them my go-to pours over that period.

How did these releases come about? Well, as I say I don’t know, but ex-Scotch whisky casks perhaps? Where no particular wood type or previous incumbent filling was prevalent. I loved them. With that restrained and distant orangey-sweetness in the background, it was unmistakably ‘Arran’ to me.

My relationship didn’t last too long though, because the new - and completely different in profile - 10 year old was released in 2018; the same year they discontinued the 14 year old. I bought a bottle or two of the 14yo thinking it’d be back when stocks ‘caught up’, you know, in a year or two.

Well, it’s been eight long years and we’ve been waiting for that replacement to happen ever since. In the meantime, it’s been odd to also see an eight-year abyss in age statements in the Arran core range line up; it’s been screaming for something to plug that gap.

Now we have it back and, encouragingly, they’ve kept it purple. Does the nod to the old livery suggest we can revel once more in that delicate balance of spirit and cask? Well, with no intention of contriving another hot take: not quite.

Review

Arran 14yo, Official bottling, ex-bourbon with a ‘touch of Palo Cortado sherry casks’, 46% ABV
£69 and wide availability

The modern Scotch whisky landscape is currently awash with first-fill everything. Cask activity is having a major impact on Scotch whisky this century and it shows little sign of slowing down. The opportunities for pure, pristine and pale releases from ‘distillery wood’ refills are rare if not completely lost, in official ranges at least. Perhaps Glencadam gets a pass on their 15 year old?

Who can blame producers when these flavour-filled and richly coloured, all-natural releases sell so well and are necessary to compete with peers?

Anyway, the over reliance on those luscious and active fresh casks have defined what we have today. It’s now common to hear discussions of ‘de-maturation’ where stocks from active casks are being refilled into ‘quiet wood’ to build age and complexity before the wood obliterates any spirit character left remaining. I think it needs to happen a bit more, and be done a bit earlier. But we can taste it: modern whisky is wood-defined. It’s where we are.

The previous iterations of Arran were, for me, an antidote to that trend.

Nose

Cold coffee and chocolate notes at first, with a little sweet spice; soft ginger and cinnamon. Apple juice, apple cider and ripe clementines. Vanilla fondant, milk teeth and fudge, hazelnut pralines, sweetly floral too.

Palate

Layered sweetness. Confectionery leads: pineapple cubes, orange glucose energy tablets, lime Starburst. Vanilla cream, honey, orange cordial (yup). Some stone fruits; tinned in syrup. A little spice too - cinnamon leads with a little ginger. All very fruity and sweet, very much in the sweet shop end of things. No bad thing for many, but the sweetness makes it a bit less more-ish for me.

What does help, interestingly, is a wee splash of water. At first it spikes the freshness and adds a flash of white pepper before settling down into something a little more elegant on the palate, with the syrupy sweetness attenuated. Worth trying.

The Dregs

Poor memory could be getting in the way here, but this does taste a little more cask-forward than what I was expecting and hoping for. But that’s me comparing it to what once was, let’s take that out of things for a moment. In the modern context, this is a lovely whisky.

It’s fruity, sweet, lightly spiced and… safe. The cask maturation points to the use of Palo Cortado sherry in the mix, but I’ve no idea if it’s a finish or a vatting. I think from reading the website it’s likely the latter. But it’s done with a light touch. It’s also likely to be an excellent crowd-pleaser whisky and can take a spot next to its 10 year old sibling in that regard.

However, the sweetness makes it far less moreish than I would have hoped and it parades more as a digestif than aperitif, so to speak. It’s a more luscious and rich experience that the pure, bright and fresh Arran I was hoping for.

I think we’re starting to realise this is all very personal to me and my relationship with a previous iteration that’s now mostly lived through memories and rose-tinted nostalgia. I think I simply yearn for producers to be a little more confident about spirit-led releases. Maybe that takes more than confidence. Maybe they’re simply less successful and in far less demand. Maybe that style will remain the pursuit of the independent bottler.

I’ll also make note of the price here. It’s not abusive, but it’s a touch salty at £69. Maybe it’ll soften a few months after the initial release, but I’d have loved to see £65 or less. I’ll let you judge if I’m being unrealistic. I need to remember that Isle of Arran Distillers remain a fairly small concern. Still, it sits just outside of the majority comfort zone and that could prove critical to its chances of success. Things have changed immeasurably since the £45 bottle that was discontinued in 2018, and these days there’s a lot to choose from.

One of the most obvious is actually a release from Arran themselves - and one that proves they are absolutely capable of releasing a well-balanced whisky that showcases their spirit perfectly. I can think of no better example than their brilliant Arran Barley 10 year old, which is still available today at £59 and 50% ABV; and I sincerely hope they’ll release more of this series in future. While it uses first-fill bourbon it’s well within the realm of freshness and balance at ten years. The sherry component is, interestingly, second-fill. Nailed it.

We urgently need a Dramface review for it but - my hot take? While this 14 year old is lovely, I'd buy the Arran Barley 10 over it every day.

Here’s to another decent release from the ever-popular Arran, and to future Scotch whisky releases that taste more of the ‘Scotch’ bit.

Score: 6/10

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. WMc

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