Batch 187

Rich and soft. Ginger and rhubarb, old orange hulls, dried banana peel and rose petals to start with, then sealing wax, tonka bean and a herbal quality. As it opens (and this takes time) some raspberry jam and a glimmering of peach juice arise before an aroma like pine sap begins to take over, adding a strange exotic quality. Water accentuates this, then stirs in huge angelica elements, Jaffa cakes and fresh fig. As a little more is slowly added things relax once more into peach and, increasingly, pineapple.

Very soft texture with Juicy Fruit chewing gum, then baked peaches and just enough oak to add bite and structure as things pick up. Heavier on the chocolate now, while the addition of water shows its full ripe maturity as the pine and botanical elements return. Persevere and the tropical elements start to emerge.

Chocolate-covered cherries and nutmeg.

Reminds me of walking through the pine woods on the French Atlantic coast. Worth sticking with. How did Arran get to be 21 years old?

Drifting through the Whispering Pines.

Sweet and smoky, with some delicate nuttiness (almond) then pears, the light briny whiff of a whelk stall and a nose prickle of fresh horseradish with an accompanying sweet vegetal hit of pumpkin. The smoke is there, but initially it hangs back before being blown forward by the sea breeze. Water adds more weight, seashells and salinity. Full of the aroma of the coast.

The smoke comes in pretty much immediately, alongside light menthol (Vicks). A bittersweet mix on the mid-palate, with that typical, green, mezcal quality you often get (or to be more precise, I often get) from young Caol Ila. Has a thrilling mix of the salt, mint leaf, grass and smoke. While it might need some more oak (there’s whispers of vanilla foam) to hit perfect balance at this stage, who’s quibbling? Water adds more weight and a light oiliness.

Smoke returns along with saltiness.

Young, low-cask influenced smoky malts are a thing. Often though, they are one-dimensional. This isn’t. Judged within its competitive set.

Bluebells and Cockleshells.

The finishing cask contributes some rich fruitiness here, adding a sweeter and slightly more savoury dried fruit edge. Some toasted macadamia, stone fruits, hints of fig, some graphite and, relatively unnoticed, the smoke. Water brings out some raisin, lemon, salt water taffy and light herbal notes.

Sweet, fresh and lively with some oxidised elements. The smoke pulls itself clear in the mid-palate before the soft fruits poke though. In the middle you get black butter on shellfish, then billowing smoke. It’s hot as well, but water calms that down adding in more oiliness which balances the distillery’s lean elegance.

After drifting around, the smoke is now back in the overall mix.

Easy drinking, but there’s a slightly blowsy quality to the fruit.

Slumping at my feet like a Broken Wave.

The smoke seems slightly drier with ash-covered barbecue coals, a touch of rendering pork fat, then tomatillo. In time, the embers are strewn on the shoreline. Becomes a little blunt and while water throws in scented grasses, rockpools and more smoke, there’s heat.

Clean. A wild stormy sea: spume, smoke, lemony acids. The alcohol is obtrusive (68%?!) It becomes painful. Even a lot of water (and settling time) can’t reduce the agony.

Smoke and heat. Breathing in too deeply while next to a steel furnace.

Very much a companion to the six-year-old, but not sure there’s an extra decade of accrued wisdom. Drinking is an exercise in masochism.

Chastise me, I’m full of Sin.

The storm has passed and we are once again in calm waters. Smoked scallops, lobster shell stock and light smoky bacon. There’s maturity and depth but not at the expense of any liveliness. Peat smoke over sea-washed rocks, wet straw and hemp and, when water is added, more oils.

A very soft, clinging start, the oils now in charge. It then moves in an unusual direction, picking up dry spices, then mint, bay and thyme. The smoke is fully integrated, then comes a retronasal whiff of sea-soaked woollen walking socks, dried fruits and honey (and honeysuckle). Though over 50% abv it is balanced and layered. Smoked mussels, then gammon before some light tropical fruits emerge.

Smoky bacon. Balanced and long.

Elegant yet perky, smoky yet gentle.

Heading north, knowing that My Home Is The Sea.

Quite leathery and mature. Deep, with chestnut, pecan pie, hard toffee, prune, pot ale then yew tree and a meaty element in the back. There’s some dunnage or bung cloth in the mix, while water moves things further to the forest floor but with a rich stewed sweetness.

A strange and very oily start adding to the thick feel. There’s treacle toffee, stewed plum, red fruit/cacao and supple tannins. The leather workshop is a constant. Water shows some light tannins.

Spicy with the bittersweet touch of liquorice.

A sailor’s wet boot is said to haunt Macduff’s stillhouse, and it also seems to have manifested itself in this refill Sherry hoggie. There’s just a slight element of show here – a lot of immediate impact but you do wonder what’s behind. That said, a good, burly, early-evening dram to be taken by the fire after a fishing trip. Gather round, I’ve a story to tell… 

He regaled us with tales of High Barbary but never mentioned his missing boot.