Arran 18, The Old Malt Cask, 1996-2014, Cask No. 10999, 253 bottles, 50% abv.

This IB Arran is interesting because the distillery started around 1995, making this 1996 one of the earlier works. Also interesting to note is although Arran produces a 10 year, the 18 is more or less the entry level and flagship bottling amongst several reviewers. So this is perhaps the best of both Arran worlds? Also, these old design OMCs are getting a little harder to find.

Nose: light honey sweetness (which was initially quite strong and full of green grapes), a sting like gasoline but without the flavor, these stings fade quite fast with time.

Palate: initial palate is wood, light honey, and the honey gets stronger and is accompanied with light vanilla, then back palate is smoke and toast. Throughout the tasing there is an ashy aspect, like some coal ashes landed on my tongue and stayed there.

Finish: short, a little wood, light vanilla, and honey.

I picked this bottle for my first pour because I feel Arran, at least from their current base product line, tastes like water and would be a good starter for the night at #Woodside. Boy was I wrong. This selection had a variety of flavors, some enjoyable and some not so enjoyable, some quite intense and some in the background. I can appreciate the diversity, but not the sharp ashy aspects. Had this at @wood_side_bar in Seomyeon, Busan, South Korea.

Grade: C

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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