The Arran Malt 17 Year Old – 46% OB

Arran 17 Year Old is the last release in a trilogy counting down to the launch of the 18 year old in 2015.

The oldest official bottling from the distillery at the time of release. It’s made from un-peated malted barley and matured in the finest ex-sherry casks giving it a unique and distinctive flavour.

Colour: Full golden, fairly rich.

Nose: Shovels of malt, sweet oakiness. Slight smoke hints. A fair amount of winter stewed fruits.

Palate: Good mouth coating oils and fairly spicy. Rich and rewarding especially towards the finish. A gentle nuttiness throughout.

Finish: Sweet and fruity, relaxing autumn stewed fruits and vanilla custard. Quite a long finish, slightly dry right at the end.

Water: Water increases all the flavours on the nose even more. The spices are reduced a touch which makes it easier on the palate. The finish becomes even sweeter, jelly sweeties show their head (bite it off!).

Thoughts: Another step closer to Arran’s regular 18yo offering, and it’s a good step! Do try with water, it really increased my enjoyment of the dram. Not entirely a beginners dram this, quite a bit going on. High 80’s in score.

Other info: Limited edition, 9,000 bottles worldwide at the beginning of April ’14.

Available: The Whisky Exchange £64.45

Thanks to Arran for the sample.