“Xmas Cake and afghan coats”

9yo refill sherry butt from Arran tonight. I always have high expectations of these bottles from distillery 121, the very first SMWS bottle I ever tried was a stunning Arran and it convinced me to join.

Afghan coats eh? Nope, no idea where that’s coming from!

Dark and beguiling this, heavily spiced, meaty, chewy and full bodied. Wonderful nose of sherry oak, molasses and moss.

Treacle sponge certainly. Struck matches? Funnily enough, I sort of get that vaguely sulphuric, slightly acrid, slightly smoky hint but I doubt I’d have identified it ad s struck match, to be honest I still wouldn’t.

It’s a decent dram but it’s not as well balanced as some arrans I’ve tried. A wee bit of a letdown.

2/5

Lots of sweet blossom honey, waves of malt. Very fruity: melon, pineapple, red apples. Reminiscent of a good vintage champagne, not too dry. A little note of bonfire embers maybe?

Long warming finish.

One of the most successful sauternes-finished whiskies I’ve ever had. Giving it time to reach room temperature pays huge dividends, as does adding about 20% water.

4/5

Sincere thanks to Alex Hyland for the dram. Slàinte!

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A 9yo bourbon hogshead from Arran tonight. “Gunpowder on Lemon Meringue Pie.” You have to laugh eh?

A light and delicately sweet dram. Lots of sweet, creamy barley, honey and buttery shortcrust pastry. It’s really sweet, pineapple, mango, banana even? Certainly more vanilla.

Very tasty, very easy to drink, very inoffensive but not the most sophisticated.

3/5