Much thanks to Rob Martin for the sample! I particularly liked the old bottling of The Arran 10 Year that I had last fall, which absolutely dripped with honey sweetness - one of the purest honey notes I can remember having. This is their Private Cask series, which seems to be a single cask series bottled at natural strength - an attractive prospect from such a good distillery. While some/most of the bottles seem to be produced for specific stores/entities, and labeled as such, there seem to be some directly from the distillery as well. This bottle is from 2013, and was matured 10 years in a sherry hogshead, and bottled at 56.5%. I'm expecting a real sherry bomb, plus hopefully more of that delectable honey note.
Note: Very rich - strong alcohol fumes mix with deep sherry notes (raisins, dates) and also some yeasty malted barley. Quite bready/yeasty, in fact. Some strawberry notes too. Needs a little water and time to really open up. Perhaps some overripe grapes, as well.
Mouthfeel: Super viscous.
Palate: Reminds me of Aberlour Abunadh - rich, deep sherry bomb. The alcohol sweeps the development forward like a wave. Rich cinnamon spice combines with strawberry candy and raisins, with a subtle backbone of grassy malted barley. Super tasty.
Finish: Long and warming: baking spices (and more cinnamon) along with a surprisingly dry, spicy, peppery oak.
Verdict: Delicious! A real contender for my favorite sherry bomb. It has a nice sweet-to-dry movement on the palate that I enjoyed. Big, bold flavors with a really thick mouthfeel. This reminds me strongly of Abunadh but turned down one notch. Easily recommended!
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