By complete coincidence, this Arran bears a surprising amount of similarities with the Imperial I has just before it, but it is more tropical, mineral and less waxy.

Distillery: Arran

Region: Island

Price: ~$15/20ml (dram from a bar)

Cask Type: Ex-sherry hogshead #383 (Refill? Hard to imagine not with the colour as it is.)

ABV: 55.4

Chill-filtered: No

Color: 0.2, pale straw (natural colour).

Rested ~10 minutes before drunk neat in a tulip.

Nose: Milk cookie, slightly musty book, jackfruit, kumquat, pears and very unusually, longan!

Palate: Gentle mineral funk, light wax, much lighter than the Imperial (and no resin). Longan, nectarine, apple, lemon rind and crumbled digestives. About as thick as the Imperial, maybe slightly thinner but I could be imagining it. Incredibly gentle, drinks nothing like 55.4%.

Finish: Medium length with a long tail. Tinned peaches, mushy over-ripe apple, then those distinctive tart longans, avocado, very light eggy steamed cake, a hint of walnut oiliness (I was trying to describe this but couldn't and in the end Master of Malt got this right), a hint of wax lingers.

Conclusion: A braver person than I might countenance blending this with the Imperial I had before it to hopefully dial down the resin in the Imperial and add some florals. Other than the noticable wax and general sense of fruitiness, it differs quite a lot in the details, of course. This has a very comforting nose in terms of profile, but the cookie and book notes need to be more forward to anchor it. Generally, this is just very very gentle at 55.4%, the most gentle around this strength I have ever drank by some distance, tastes like 46%. Very surprising it was matured in a sherry hogshead as well. It is just wanting in terms of intensity. Overall, I think it is fair to score this slightly better than the Imperial due to the longer finish and variety in the notes.

If it were named by the SMWS: Live Longan and Prosper

Score: 87

Scotch Review #18, Whisky Network Review #20

H.Y.